iLive My Life
by seddie4thewin
Summary: Follow up story to iHave a Secret. Starts off with Freddie and Sam's wedding and goes into their first year or so of marriage. Seddie, Mibby (Melanie & Gibby), other original characters. Rated T for mild adult references. No really bad language, angst or heavy drama here just more of a romantic comedy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I know it's been a while since I promised a sequel to iHave A Secret. This one took a lot longer than I thought to put together, but I got to thinking about what our favorite couple could get into next. It's not necessary to completely understand this plot, but if you haven't read that story yet, go ahead and read it, just so this one's nice and clear. It's OK, go ahead, we'll wait for you.**

**As always, I'm writing this for fun, not for profit, the original characters belong to Dan & Nickelodeon.**

Chapter 1

Sam and Carly ended up spending most of the summer planning Sam's wedding. Rather, Carly spent the summer fantasizing about fancy dresses, flower arrangements and place settings and Sam spent the summer saying things to her like "Mmm-hmm.", "That's kinda cool.", and "Um, I don't know, maybe.".

By the end of summer, with Carly's help and Melanie's input via video chat and text, Sam had a dress picked out. Cat tried to help, too, but Sam would have nothing to do with the pink, flowery stuff that she always seemed to be drawn to. The blonde couldn't see the logic in spending more money for a dress that she would only wear for a few hours than she would spend for a decent used car, so she put herself (and Carly) on a very strict budget. Her friends kept droning on about how it's the most important day of her life and other such romance, but in the long run, the only dress that Sam liked also happened to be the least expensive.

Speaking of Sam's two friends, as soon as they met, Carly and Cat had formed an instant bond which was compounded by Carly's staying with Cat while Marissa was in town. Rather than make the long commute from Edwards where her dad lived to her college or living in a dorm room, Carly chose to move in with Cat. Cat had the space and was more than glad for the company.

Even though Carly and Sam had patched up their hardships months before and were back to being "sisters", she still knew her welcome was wearing thin at Sam and Freddie's apartment. After Mel left for her internship back in PA, Carly had moved into the spare bedroom to give all of them a bit more privacy. She was totally over her feelings for Freddie, but deep down inside she still felt kind of awkward being around their constant kissing and other forms of PDA. When Cat suggested she needed a new roommate, Carly was on it like white on rice.

Cat really enjoyed hanging out with her new friend, though Carly was Sam's polar opposite. While Sam was outspoken and forward, Carly kept to herself when she wasn't either studying or over at Sam's. More than anything, the brunette would not tolerate the subtle, and not so subtle, innuendos that Cat and Sam had always shared. In short, Cat felt Carly was a bit of a prude, but she still thought the world of her and valued her friendship. The two spent many evenings painting each others nails and fantasy shopping online, not to mention turning Sam's half of the bedroom into what the blonde former resident described as a 'nauseating pink paradise'.

* * *

After the proposal, it took Freddie and Sam several of months to set their wedding date and by that time Carly was beside herself at all the things they still needed to decide on. "Your wedding's in less than seven months, Sam. We have to get the flowers picked out. You'll need to get your bridesmaid's bouquets designed and the men's corsages and . . . Oh my gosh! I bet you haven't even looked at the pictures of bride's bouquets I sent you last week."

"Relax, Carls. We have seven months. How long can it possibly take to put together a couple of bouquets?" Sam replied as she sat at her laptop reading emails. "Hey, you've got to see this video Mel sent me a link to. This crazy raccoon is driving a golf cart, holy crap he just crashed it into a sand trap. C'mon Carls, check this out!"

"The cake!" Carly suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh?" Sam replied with a jump.

"Come on, we've got to get to the bakery before they close. That woman told me we had to order your cake by this weekend if you want it in time for June 21st." Carly grabbed her car keys and was nearly at the door by the time Sam shut off the computer and slowly stood up.

"Can you explain to me again why we need to buy a cake seven months ahead of time. My friend Jasmine from school can make me a cake in about four hours." Sam just couldn't see the point in all the fuss, rushing around and headaches for something as simple as a pastry.

"Because the bakery is busy. Do you have any idea how many people get married in June and the 21st will be a very popular day, since its first day of summer. If we don't get on her schedule now, she may not have time to bake the cake at all." Carly tried to explain how things work to Sam.

"I don't want a cake that's been sitting around for months. It'll taste like cardboard. Just let me get my friend to do the cake, she was top of the class with cakes and breads." Sam was not only trying to be reasonable, but keep things as simple as possible.

"Sam, the cake isn't about the taste, it's about the decoration, you just have to have a professionally decorated cake."

"Ugh! Just _please_ tell me it doesn't have to have one of those stupid little plastic doll couples on the top. I swear if it does, when I get that knife in my hand . . . "

"No, of course not. We can skip the bride and groom on the cake if you're just going to make them look like victims of the French Revolution." Carly gave in to Sam's demand. "Now can we please get to the bakery, they close in less than an hour."

"I'm going, I'm going. But all I have to say is, I'm gonna be eating some cake and real soon. So they better have samples ready or I'll just eat one of those big fancy cakes they have sitting in the window."

By the end of the day, Carly and Sam had chosen the cake and Beth the baker assured Sam that it would be fresh and tasty and there would be absolutely no plastic dolls on it. Sam gave in and paid the deposit, but she still had her reservations about spending so much money for a cake.

"With what that cake cost, Fredlumps better not get any nubby ideas about smearing it onto my face and licking it off at the reception or lets just say our wedding night will be very uneventful." Sam said with a grimace, looking at her receipt as the two got back into Carly's little white car.

"I'm sure he knows better than to waste food in your presence, Sam." Carly said with a chuckle.

"Darn right he does." Sam replied.

* * *

As soon as the holidays were over, Carly stepped up her game with the wedding plans. Each week, she met with Sam to go over everything in great detail. To her, it was like the head coaches strategizing for the super bowl. She had seating charts, calendars and everything. No doubt about it, this woman was nothing if not the model of efficiency. Some weeks she spent more time planning Sam's wedding than she did on her schoolwork.

"Carls, are you sure you don't want to reconsider teaching. I still say you're meant to be a wedding planner." Freddie joked when he came home from work to find Sam and Carly sitting at their table for the third day in a row, charts and catalogs spread out in front of them. This time they were examining place settings and invitations, he observed as he went over to Sam and kissed her like he did every day when he got home.

"Are you kidding, I'm so stressed with just this one wedding, if I had to do this for a living, I'd have an ulcer the size of Iowa." Carly complained as Sam rolled her eyes. "After all this, I'm pretty sure I don't want anything to do with a wedding ever again."

"Have you told Jeff about your disdain of weddings?" Freddie joked.

"Oh, I think I could do it just one more time for my own." Carly quickly corrected herself.

"Speaking of Jeff, how are things going with you two?" Sam asked.

"Great! We just had our three-month anniversary. He bought me three dozen red roses. I can't wait until Valentine's day, I'll bet he's got something really big planned." Carly looked all dreamy-eyed. "And did I tell you he's been accepted into an internship at the governor's office this summer."

"Yep, like ten times." Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"He's just so perfect. He's already said he's taking me to Las Vegas for Spring break." Carly bragged.

"Just remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Freddie told her with a chuckle, pulling a drink from the fridge.

"Maybe that's what he has in mind." Sam joked and nudged Carly in the ribs.

"You guys are as bad as Cat. You all have dirty minds." Carly stated, as she shook her head.

"Eh, maybe we do, but maybe you're just a bit of a prude, Carls." Sam told her with a smirk as Freddie passed by and snuck a quick squeeze, which went unnoticed by Carly.

"Would a prude have been to third base on her three month anniversary?" Carly asked.

"Uh, Carly, I hate to tell you this, but by our three month anniversary, Freddie and I were hitting homers out of the park." Sam said just to see her friend's reaction. "And we played a lot of double headers, too."

"And I think that's my cue to leave the room." Freddie said, heading back the hall to his tech equipment room, or what Sam called his 'fortress of nubitude'.

"So back to the business at hand. Do you like the font on this one better or do you think it would be better on the ivory parchment stock?" Carly was back on track.

"Tell you what, why don't you pick out what you like, your very favorite pattern and everything, and then let me tell you what I think of it." Sam already knew that would be her favorite one too, if for no other reason than it would get this process behind her.

"Ooh, can I pick out my favorite place settings, too?"

"As long as they don't have little pink rosebuds or something like that on them, knock yourself out, kid." Sam told her. Another thing she wouldn't have to worry about or waste time dealing with. She's rather spend her free time canoodling with Freddie.

"We just need to get all this handled. Then we can coast through the last few months of college and the only thing we'll have to worry about is finals and graduation." Carly made a reasonable point about that if nothing else.

When the time came for college graduations, Spencer came for Carly's big day and of course Marissa came for Freddie's, though she had to leave as soon as it was over because of her job. Freddie's graduation was 2 days before Carly's and Sam had planned a party for both on the evening after Carly's commencement. One definite bonus to this was it gave the couple 2 days pretty much to themselves to celebrate on their own while Carly was busy with her own graduation preparation and finals.

**You can imagine for yourself what Freddie and Sam did for those 2 days. I'm hoping to keep a bit of humor in this plot, not quite so much drama, in similar style to the series. Hope you liked it that way.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the favorites and favorites for chapter 1. This chapter starts before the wedding and ends with their travels. I didn't do much about the actual wedding because its surely been done to death. Besides, there are more entertaining things for them to get into. This chapter might not be very eventful, but there's some humor in it. Hope you enjoy.  
**

**disclaimer: I don't own iCarly or the characters, but I did invent a few in my own devious mind.**

Chapter 2

The week following their college graduation, Carly was back in full wedding planner mode. It was now less than four weeks before the wedding and it was hammer time. Sam busied herself with babysitting and Carly didn't seem to mind being left to bear the brunt of the work. Not that Sam was too lazy to be involved with her own wedding plans, but she wanted to be as helpful as possible to Cat since she would be away from the business for almost two weeks for the wedding itself and their trip to Canada. Besides, as she said 'Carls it's a wedding not a coronation, no one will remember exactly which shade of teal the place mats were or how far the streamers hang from the ceiling'.

Sure enough, by the week of the wedding everything had been handled, checked and double checked. Melanie came to L.A. as soon as her graduation ceremony was over to help in getting things ready and spent most of her time with Carly going over last minute details. Marissa, Spencer and Sonja all flew down from Seattle a few days before the wedding. Gibby came to town, too, just in time to throw Freddie a bachelor party. He, Freddie and Spencer all went out to one of those sports bars where the waitresses wear skimpy tops and outdid themselves on bar food and light beer.

Pam even came to L.A. for her daughter's wedding, arriving just in time for the rehearsal dinner. Pam stepped off the plane wearing a totally inappropriate outfit for a mother of two grown children. She looked like a refugee from a bad 80's pop video crossed with a forty-something that had led a hard life. She smelled a bit of alcohol, but wasn't outwardly drunk to the point where they wouldn't let her fly.

With all the planning and checking of details, one thing had been completely overlooked by everyone. "Oh my gosh, Sam, you know what I never gave any thought to?" Carly asked in a panic the morning of the rehearsal as she, Sam, Cat, Melanie, and Marissa all sat down to their brunch at the pancake shack, which was Sam's request for her bachelorette party.

"Um, what kind of toilet paper will be in the bathrooms at the church." Sam suggested with her typical sarcasm.

"Sam! This is serious." Carly whined. "Who's going to walk you down the aisle?"

"To tell you the truth, I never gave it any thought." Sam replied honestly with a shrug, digging into her pile of waffles and bacon. " Guess it won't be my dad, I haven't seen him since he ran off when I was five and a half."

"I know my dad would, but he left yesterday for a meeting in D.C., he won't be back until Sunday. Oh, God, Sam. What are we going to do?"

All of a sudden, Sam had the perfect idea. "Hey, how about Spencer? He's about as close to a male role model as I've ever had. Other than the nub, of course."

"Sam, that's perfect. Let me text him." Carly was glad that problem was worked out. "He's out shopping with Sonja right now, probably looking for your wedding present."

"Just tell I need to talk to him. I want it to be a surprise." Sam requested with a devious grin on her face.

Carly sent Spencer the message and as soon as he and Sonja arrived at the rehearsal that afternoon, Sam pounced on him.

"Spence, Spence! I need to ask you something."

"Sam, is everything OK?" He replied.

"Sure, Spence. I'd just like to know if you could do me a favor"

"Whatever you need, Kiddo." He replied.

"I just need you to walk me down the aisle."

"Huh? Um, well . . . uh, Sam isn't that something your dad's supposed to do?" Spencer asked.

"I haven't seen him in like, 17 years. I doubt he'll show up for my wedding. Besides, he probably doesn't even know I'm getting married and if he does, I'm sure he doesn't care. You've been more of a dad to me than he ever was."

"Awww, that means a lot to me, Sam. I'd be honored to do that for you." He told her with a hug.

"Thanks, Spence! Rehersal is about to begin, you go with Carly, she'll tell you what to do."

"That's easy, she's been doing that since she was eleven." Spencer confessed, rolling his eyes.

The wedding was on a Saturday at the church Sam and Freddie went to on occasion. Not that they were particularly religious, but it meant a lot to Cat when they went with her to church and so the couple tried to accompany her at least once a month if at all possible.

Their ceremony went off without a hitch and the dancing and celebration at the reception went on until late in the evening. After the newlyweds had cut their cake (non of which was smeared on anyone's face), had their first dance and been toasted by their friends, Spencer took the floor and asked Sonja to marry him. Of course, she immediately said yes.

* * *

After they had set their wedding date, to the newlyweds' surprise, Marissa generously offered to pay for their honeymoon trip anywhere they wanted as her wedding present to them. After considering Hawaii, Orlando and an Alaskan cruise, the couple decided on trip through western Canada. The temptation of both the international meat museum and the Canadian Fatcake factory was too much to resist given Sam's fascination with both. Freddie was just glad to be going someplace north where it would be cooler.

Sam and Freddie's flight to Canada was set for the morning following their wedding. While they were there, as a special surprise for his bride, Freddie had managed to find a way for them to take a tour of the Canadian bacon factory, which had Sam so excited, she couldn't sleep the night before. After seeing that and all the other interesting sights and trying all the different kinds of meats at the meat museum, the couple was due to head back to the U.S. on Saturday.

Freddie arranged for them to make a stop in Seattle on the way back home for a surprise visit before returning to Los Angeles. They would only have 2 days before having to head back to California and they arrived in town on an early morning flight. Freddie called Spencer just before they boarded the plane in Canada and asked if he would pick them up at the airport and to please keep their visit a secret from his mom.

"Where is that meathead? We've been waiting for almost half and hour. I thought you told him to meet us at baggage claim at 8:30?" Sam asked her husband while they sat in the baggage claim area of Seattle airport.

"I just sent him a text and told him we were here waiting." He replied.

"Our plane was even late, for God's sake. He should have been here by now." As much as she loved Spencer, Sam was annoyed at the thought of being forgotten.

Freddie looked at the message on his phone. "Spencer says he's just parking right now. He says he had car trouble."

Sam just rolled her eyes, if anyone ever had bad luck it was Spencer, especially with cars. "It figures, he probably burnt up his car."

Within a few minutes, Freddie spotted Spencer making his way through the doors leading to the parking garage, he looked frazzled and out of breath as Freddie pointed him out and the couple headed his way.

"Hey, Kiddos!" Spencer greeted, still panting from his rushing around.

"Hey, Spence!" Freddie said. "Thanks for picking us up. Sorry about all your car problems."

Sam hugged Spencer and was ready to get out of the airport. "Come on, let's get out of here. Mama needs a nap. I still don't understand why Mr. Nubs here booked us on such an early flight."

The men took the bags and they headed out towards the parking garage with Sam following behind.

"Can we stop for some coffee before we get back to Bushwell, Spence?" She asked.

"Sure, Sam." He told her. "I was going to stop on the way to the airport, but after the tire incident, I didn't take the time."

"What happened, anyway?" Freddie asked.

"My car's been acting up so I was going to take Sonja's, but the one back tire was flat. It took me a while to figure out where to find the jack and the wrench and once I had the car jacked up, I took out the spare and discovered it was flatter than the tire I had just taken off. So I tried to take my car, but it wouldn't start, I guess I need to get my battery checked. Anyway, I went back inside to change my shirt, which was all greasy, and Sonja was up so I told her about the tire. She called the auto club and the guy came and pumped up both tires and put the car back together." Spencer was clearly frazzled and it wasn't even 10:00 in the morning yet.

"Why don't we stop at Pancake Shack and Freddie can buy us some breakfast?" Sam suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Freddie responded from the back seat.

"Works for me, as long as we're back by noon." Spencer said. "Sonja has her mother coming over for dinner and I want to get a shower before she gets there. And she's always early, like earlier than your mom, Freddie."

"But is she crazy?" Sam asked.

"Sam!" Freddie snapped.

"What, just because I've been getting along with the woman doesn't mean she's not nuts for making you take tick baths until the day you left for college and making you wear those ridiculous antibacterial underwear when you were a kid." Sam defended.

"Point taken." He conceded.

"Alright, who's ready for pancakes?" Spencer shouted as they arrived at the restaurant.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I've been trying to keep this story more comedy than drama, but we'll get into a bit of a situation with Pam and her antics in this one.**

The three ate their breakfast and Freddie sent his mother a text when they got back in the car asking what she was doing that day, he was hoping she hadn't been called into work.

"Good news, Mom's home so we can stop in and surprise her." Freddie told his wife.

"Yay." She said in a monotone voice. "But I guess that's a good thing, at least we won't have to go see Pam right away." Sam clearly wasn't enjoying the thoughts of going to her mother's house any time soon.

"Isn't Melanie staying with her this week?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, that's right. She had that interview at Seattle General on Wednesday." Freddie said. "How'd she make out with that, Sam? Did she ever tell you?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, she sent me a text yesterday, they offered her the job." She responded. "So I guess she'll be in Seattle for the long run."

They pulled into the parking space at Bushwell and left the luggage in the car. Spencer rang Mrs. Benson's doorbell as Sam and Freddie waited around the corner to surprise her.

"Oh, it's you." Marissa answered the door with a frown. "I thought you were Sonja. She just called and asked to borrow my carpet shampooer, there's some kind of stain she can't get out." She said with the machine in hand, knowing full well the source of the stain was standing before her.

"Um, yeah, I'll take it over to her." Spencer told her. "I wanted to tell you I ran into someone this morning that wanted to see you."

"Well, I don't have time for games, I need to disinfect all the dishes and kitchen cabinets this weekend, whatever it is will just have to wait until I get my housecleaning done." Marissa shoved the shampooer into Spencer's hands and turned her back to close the door.

"Maybe you should take a break and say hello to your son and new daughter in law." Freddie said as he stepped around the corner and in front of his mother's door holding Sam's hand.

"Freddiekins! A-and Sam! What are you doing here?" Marissa said grasping Freddie in a bone crushing hug.

"Gheesh, Marissa, it's only been a week since you saw him." Sam said about the time Marissa left go of Freddie and grabbed her with just as much vigor.

"Oh, what a surprise, come in, come in." She said.

"See ya, Spence. Thanks for the ride." Sam said as she followed Freddie into Mrs. Benson's apartment and Spencer crossed the hall.

"So what are you two doing in Seattle?" Marissa asked again.

"We were flying out of Vancouver, so we thought we'd take a commuter flight down and surprise you." Freddie told his mother.

"Surprise!" Sam said with a smile.

"Oh this is so wonderful." Marissa said. "But I have evening shift at the hospital. I don't know if I can get anyone to cover for me this late."

"It's OK, Mom." Freddie assured her. "We can spend the day with you and visit Pam this evening."

Sam rolled her eyes, she figured Pam would be out trying to pick up a new sugar daddy on a Saturday evening. At least they could spend some time with Melanie while Pam was out.

"Let's go in the living room and sit down. My summer cleaning can wait. It's only June, I still have three months to get it done before it's time for fall housecleaning." Marissa told them.

Again, Sam rolled her eyes and sat on the sofa beside where her husband had settled.

After some brief small talk, Marissa's doorbell rang.

"Oh, who can that be now?" Marissa said as she stood up to answer it.

"Melanie?" She greeted. "This is a shock, come on in, dear."

"Thanks, Marissa. Sam? Freddie? I thought you two were in Canada?" Melanie asked as she spotted her sister and brother in law sitting in Marissa's apartment.

"Mel, what are you doing at my mom's?" Freddie asked her.

"I was just on my way over to Gi- er, um, give Sonja and Spencer my new phone number. I thought I'd stop and thank Marissa for giving me a good reference for my hospital interview. Thanks, Marissa. I don't know if you heard, but I got the job." Melanie hugged Marissa.

"You're very welcome, Melanie. Actually the head of obstetrics called and told me you accepted the position. Good luck with your new job." Marissa told her.

"So you're you're working in the baby department?" Sam asked.

"Yep. Assistant nurse manager for the night shift in OB." Mel told her sister. "And I know Marissa put in a good word for me."

"I saw your resume, Mel. You got the job on your own merit, I'm sure nothing I said made any difference." Marissa humbly replied.

"Of course they would listen to you, you're head nurse for the ER." Freddie told his mom. "That was really nice of you to help Melanie out like that."

"It was nothing, dear. I know she'll be perfect for the job." Marissa said.

"Anyway, you never said why you guys were here." Mel pointed out.

"We just thought we'd stop by for a surprise visit with Marissa and Mom." Sam told her twin.

"Oh, um, maybe we'd better, uh, talk about Mom, then." Mel said with a glum look on her face.

"What did she do now?" Sam asked. "Is she in jail again?"

"No, but she's been drinking. A lot. I noticed it at the wedding and I just put it off as nerves. You know, flying to L.A., seeing her daughter get married and everything." Melanie said while looking at her hands which were folded in her lap. "But I got a chance to talk to her AA sponsor when she stopped by the other day and it seems Mom's been off the wagon for a while now. She told me she had dried out for almost a year, she even had a job for a couple of months last winter. But something happened and she got her head back in the bottle and she's been having trouble ever since. This Emma woman, her sponsor, said she hasn't been coming to the meetings, either."

"Maybe we should just stay away then." Sam said. "I saw her drunk often enough growing up."

"How about we both have a talk with her. Maybe she'll tell us why she fell off the wagon, she won't tell Emma. She just said that in February she started missing meetings and all Mom would say was 'what's the use'." Mel explained.

Sam simply reached for Freddie's hand and held it tightly. "OK, Mel. We can try, but I never had any luck getting through to her when she was like that when I lived at home. We just wound up screaming at each other and that only made things worse. You know, sometimes when she was really messed up, I sort of understood why Dad left."

"Well, I should get going. I need to get back and see if she's out of bed yet." Mel said quietly. She stood and offered Marissa a quick hug. "Thanks again, Marissa. I guess I'll maybe see you in the nurse's lounge."

* * *

Sam and Freddie went out to dinner with Marissa and then dropped her off at the hospital for her shift. Freddie drove his mom's car and the couple headed for Pam's to see what was going on. They pulled into the driveway to see Pam's worn out old Honda with the 2 different colored doors on one side and the trunk lid held shut with bungee cords sitting there. As soon as they stepped out of the car into the warm evening air, they heard a door slam. They looked up to see Pam headed toward her car, again wearing way too little clothing for a woman her age.

"You'd better get that fancy car out of my driveway or I'll run over it." She shouted, not paying attention to who the two young people were climbing out of it.

"Mom!" Sam shouted back. "Where are you going?"

"Sammy. an, and Frankie, no um, Freddie. This is a shock. I thought you two were on your honeymoon. Did your sister call you to check up on me?" Pam stammered, as she did when she was drinking.

"Um, mom, let's go inside for a few minutes." Sam suggested. About that time Pam collapsed to her knees and threw up on Freddie's shoes.

"Ugh, Mom, you're drunk. Get up! Freddie get the door, I'll get her. We've gotta get her in the house before the neighbors see her and call the cops and she gets fined for public drunkenness again."

Freddie didn't know whether to take off his shoes or just throw up himself.

Sam grabbed Pam by the left arm and hauled her into a standing position, supporting the older woman's weight around her shoulders. As she approached the open door, Freddie got Pam's other arm and they helped her in the house. They got as far as the worn out sofa with mismatched cushions and cat claw rips on the one arm that Sam remembered from her childhood. Melanie heard the door open and slam shut and was just coming down the stairs when she saw what was going on in the living room.

"Melly!" Pam said loudly. "Use your nurse training and tell your shister that I'm not drunk."

"Mom, you _are_ drunk." Mel said flatly. "Ugh, Sam keep her there. Come on, Freddie, we've got to get some water into her." Mel headed for the kitchen with Freddie behind her.

**Hope this satisfied the desire some of you must be having for this story to get a little drama to it. More with Pam's antics next time.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter 4, enjoy. Thanks to those who have reviewed, favorited and followed this story. **

"I thought you give someone coffee to sober them up." Freddie said, following his sister in law to the kitchen. Every horizontal surface was piled with dirty dishes and empty fast food containers.

"Who has a medical degree here, hmmm? You're not an expert at everything you know." Mel snapped at him before realizing what she said. "I'm sorry, Freddie. This isn't your fault. I didn't mean to be so harsh. But the only thing coffee does is help a hangover headache because of the caffeine. Otherwise, it causes dehydration, which makes the alcohol in the blood more concentrated. Giving her plain water and some vitamin C will sober her up faster."

"It's OK, Mel." Freddie said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "Sam told me your mom's difficult to deal with in this state. I guess you've been dealing with this yourself all week and you're at your wit's end. Maybe if we can sober Pam up a bit we can talk some sense to her."

A couple of hours and about a gallon of water later, Pam was beginning to sober up. Sam was getting hungry, but she managed to keep her cool and no one raised their voice, despite Pam's accusation that they were trying to drown her.

"Mom, how are you feeling?" Mel asked.

"My head hurts, do we have any aspirin?" Pam responded holding a pillow on her head.

"Let me see if I can find some." Mel said. She headed upstairs to the bathroom to check the medicine cabinet.

"Mom, what's going on with you?" Sam asked quietly. "I thought you were in a program and getting things back on track."

"Uh, Sammy, you don't need to worry about it. I just don't see the point in getting better. I mean, look at this place, look at my life. When I drink, none of this looks as bad."

"Nothing can be that bad, Mom." Sam said. "I don't believe you want this for yourself. You're stronger than whatever has you down."

"Did Mel have any luck with that aspirin yet, my head feels like it's splitting wide open." Pam said as she held her head with both hands.

Sam got up to see how her sister was coming with the aspirin search. She motioned to Freddie to keep an eye on her mother. No sooner was Sam at the top of the stairs, when Pam attempted to stand and staggered forward almost falling onto the TV, which was perched on top of a rickety end stand with chipped paint. Freddie jumped up and caught his mother in law just in time to save her from injury.

"My, but you are a strong boy." Pam said. "And you smell good, too. I can see why Sammy always had a thing for you."

"Um, Pam, Sam used to beat the snot out of me when we were kids and she called me horrible names." Freddie said.

"Yeah, but that's just 'cause she liked you." Pam replied as Freddie sat her on a stained up recliner and knelt beside her to keep her from trying to stand up again.

"You see, Kid, we're kind of a dysfunctional family." Pam confessed, holding his hand. "Sam never knew anything but hurt growing up. First her dad left, then Mel went off to that fancy school. The poor kid thought if I wasn't rough with her that I didn't love her. The only thing she ever knew was people being mean to each other, even people they care about."

"She wasn't that way with Carly. They were always like sisters." Freddie replied with a frown.

"Yeah, but girls are different around other girls. Sammy always said you were smart, but you're kind of dumb about some stuff. Anyway, she grew up with her dad and I fighting and calling each other every name in the book. I guess she just thought the harder you fight, the more you like someone."

Mel had started down the stairs with Sam at her heels when she heard voices having a serious discussion from the living room. She wasn't able to hear the conversation, but she stopped Sam and the two of them sat on the top step and left Pam talk to Freddie.

"Maybe he can get through to her." Mel whispered to her sister.

"Long as I don't have to deal with her chiz." Sam whispered back.

Pam continued with Freddie. "Sam's dad and I actually went into counseling when the girls started school, we even stopped the constant yelling and bickering. But I caught him cheating on me with our counselor and I kicked him out, I never told the girls why. I guess Sammy just figured that when her dad and I stopped fighting that we stopped caring for each other and that's why he left. So you see all those times when she gave you wedgies and called you names, she was really trying to say she liked you."

"I guess . . . that makes . . . sense? Sort of." He replied, a bit of a smirk on his face.

Out of the blue, Pam started telling Freddie what she needed to get off her chest. "Their dad moved to Chicago for work and then he arranged for Melanie to go to boarding school to get back at me. Actually, he tried to get both the girls in there just to take them away from me for booting him out, but Sam was too feisty and she blew the interview. Her and I moved to Seattle after that and I never had any contact with their idiot father. I guess I started drinking to try to make my problems go away but I'm sure Sammy told you about all that."

"He called me last winter, though. Ralph, Sam's dad. He saw on her splashface page that she was engaged and he called me to ask about you. You know, what kind of guy you are and all that junk. I told him to mind his own business and leave us alone. And that if he showed up at the wedding, I'd have Sam's uncle break his legs. Sure he said he was sorry and that and when he cheated it was only a one time thing and he wanted to make it up to me and the girls for the way he acted, but I didn't care, I still don't care. He doesn't deserve the chance."

"Is that when you started drinking again, Pam?" Freddie asked.

"Maybe you're pretty smart after all, Kid." Pam replied. "After he called, I had a drink to get him off my mind. Then I missed a meeting because I was too drunk to go. I started drinking every day and then I got fired from my job for coming to work drunk. So I just figured what's the use, my life's always been a wreck, It'll always be a wreck and I quit caring about anything. I was actually pretty buzzed at your wedding, but don't tell Sammy, she'll never forgive me."

"Pam, it's none of my business, but it sounds like you were hurt really bad. The thing is, if you just give up because you think you failed as a wife or a mother, the only person you are hurting is yourself. You know the best way to get back at Ralph? Succeed. Clean yourself up, clean this place up, get a job and make a better life for yourself than he could have ever given you." Freddie told her.

"You're pretty smart for a kid, you know that." Pam told him. "I wonder if I can still make tonight's AA meeting? Emma was here yesterday, I think. She's my sponsor. I really can't remember, I've been pretty much out of it since I got back from L.A."

"Tell you what, Pam, If you really want to go to that meeting, I'll even take you." Freddie offered.

"Thanks, Kid. I appreciate the offer, but you need to get yourself cleaned up before you go anywhere. It looks like someone puked on your shoes." Pam said. "Maybe if I call Emma she can pick me up, I have her number here somewhere." Pam began to dig in her purse.

"Oh, and hey kid, do me a favor and don't tell Sammy about her dad calling me, or Melly, she has a big mouth, you know." Pam pulled a slip of paper out of her purse. "Here it is. Can I borrow your phone?"

Freddie handed Pam his phone and she called Emma for a ride to the AA meeting.

"God, what's taking those girls so long with the aspirin? What are they doing, making the stuff?" Pam shouted toward the stairs. "Oh, and Freddie, do me another favor."

"What's that, Pam?" He asked, heading toward the stairs to check on his wife.

"Call me Mom."

He walked back to her chair and gave her a quick hug. "Thanks, Mom."

"What for, Kid?"

"For going to your meeting."

Freddie then quickly headed up the stairs to search for the twins only to find them sitting on the top step, playing a game on Mel's phone.

**I'm trying to keep the chapters a little shorter just to make reading a little easier. I'll still try to get updates out at least every two or three days.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm trying to keep this more of a comedy than all full of drama and angst, so I hope everyone's enjoying it so far.**

Chapter 5

"Where the heck have you two been, your mom's dying of a headache down there?" Freddie asked.

"We just thought we'd let you two have some alone time." Sam replied with a smirk, handing the phone back to Melanie for her turn.

"How much did you hear?" He asked, worried that they overheard the part about their dad that he was supposed to keep to himself.

"Not much, it just seemed like you two were getting along pretty well so we thought we'd give you a shot at talking some sense into her." Mel replied, turning off the game and shoving the phone into her pocket.

"Well it worked. She's going to a meeting tonight. She just called her sponsor for a ride." Freddie told the twins.

"That's great, Freddie." Mel said as she walked past him on the stairs and hugged him.

"Yeah, babe. How'd you ever talk her into a meeting?" Sam asked as she stood on the step above him and put her arms around his neck.

"It didn't take that much really." He said. "We just had an honest conversation and I suggested that she clean herself up a bit, you know try to improve her life rather than just sit around feeling sorry for herself and drowning her problems with alcohol."

"Maybe you should be a counselor instead of a computer geek, ever give it any thought." She said and kissed him lightly.

"Caltech teaches technology, not psychology and I already have one degree in computer programming, so I guess I'd better just stick with that."

"But if you get a counseling degree, you could be Dr. Freddie Benson. That sounds soooo hot." His wife told him.

"I can still be Dr. Benson if I have a technology PhD, but first I have to get my masters." He explained as they broke their embrace.

"Yeah, I guess a doctor's a doctor, even if it is in being a nerd." She said with a smirk. "Good thing I have a soft spot for nerds."

"Seems you always did, sweetie." He patted her butt as she walked past him and they both headed back to the living room.

After downing her aspirin, Pam cleaned up a bit and put on some appropriate clothing. Emma picked her up in time to make the 8:00 AA meeting down at the community center.

Melanie was in the bathroom while Freddie and Sam sat on the sofa talking about some things the three of them could do this evening. After nearly 30 minutes, Mel came down the steps, wearing a cute royal blue dress and a pair of 2 inch heels, her hair up in her signature ponytail, with a matching blue hair tie.

"You didn't have to dress up for us, Mel." Sam told her with a smirk.

"Um, actually you guys, I kind of have a date tonight." Mel told them.

"Wow, that was fast, you just got back to Seattle on Monday and you already have a date." Sam remarked. "Where'd you meet this dude, on the flight back?"

"He probably works at the hospital." Freddie suggested.

"Oooh, Mel's dating a doctor." Sam said all dreamy eyed as she batted her eyelashes in an attempt to mock her twin sister. "I told you doctors are hot." She nudged Freddie in the side.

"Laugh it up, you two. I never made fun of you when you were dating. I always thought it was sweet how you guys went from fighting to falling completely in love." Mel defended with her hands on her hips. "Instead of making fun of me, why don't you help straighten up this living room, Mom lives like a pig."

"You've been here all week, couldn't you have straightened it up then?" Sam asked, never taking her feet off the coffee table in an attempt to stand up to help.

"Yeah, Mel. I agree with Sam what have you been doing all week?" Freddie asked, even though he did begin to gather up magazines which were tossed about in the corner beside the TV.

"I've been hanging out with a friend." Mel stated, picking up several empty beer bottles and dropping them in the trash can one by one.

"What friend, you don't even know anyone in Seattle except Spencer and Sonja?" Sam inquired.

Mel's face reddened a bit. "Well, you see I met someone and we really hit it off. We've been hanging out together and he asked me out."

"Like Sam said, you really work fast." Freddie said, emptying Pam's boot shaped ashtray into the trash can.

"Hey, I haven't dated anyone since last fall when Eric and I broke up, so I wouldn't say this is fast. Technically, I'm not even on the rebound anymore."

"So who is this guy anyway?" Freddie asked.

Sam still wasn't lifting a finger to help clean up when the doorbell rang. Mel straightened up her dress, looked at her hair in the mirror hanging behind the front door and reached for the doorknob.

"Oooh, you mean we get to meet this Mr. Wonderful." Sam said sarcastically as Freddie took a seat on the couch beside her.

Mel stuck her tongue out at her sister and opened the door.

"Giiibbaaayy!" The young man announced upon entering the Puckett home and throwing his arms around Melanie. Melanie gave him a quick peck on the lips and turned to give the couple a shrug and a crooked smile.

"Can you believe this chiz?" Sam said to her husband after Mel and Gibby left the house. "I mean Mel and Gibby, Eeewwwwww!"

"Like I keep telling you, Sam, Gibby's not that bad. He's changed a lot since high school. You saw how he was at our wedding, and the toast he gave us was straight from the heart." Freddie told her.

"Well, either way, I'm going to sit here and wait for her to come back and talk some sense into her. Even if this place does smell like menthol cigarettes, spilled beer and a dirty cat box."

"Come on, Sam. Let's go grab a smoothie, I'd like to see T-Bo while we're in town." Freddie reasoned, hoping tyhe lure of food would calm his wife's attitude.

"OK, but then we're coming back here and waiting for my sister. I've gotta stop her before she does something really stupid." Sam huffed.

Two hours later, the newlyweds returned to the Puckett home and turned on the TV while they waited for Mel to get back from her date with Gibby. About 11:30, Sam heard a car pull into the driveway. She knew it had to be her sister and Gibby, Pam was already home and in bed when they returned from getting their smoothies. Sam turned off the TV, which was the only source of light in the room and nudged Freddie awake.

"Remember, you need to distract Gibby, so I can talk to Melanie." She told her husband.

A few minutes later, the front door opened and in the silhouette of the streetlight, Sam could clearly see the outline of two people standing in the doorway locked in a heated kiss. Sam flicked the lights on and surprised them causing their lips to separate.

"Uh, Hi, Sam. You're still up. I, I thought you'd be asleep." Mel stammered.

"Hey Freddie." Gibby said to his friend who was still sitting on the couch, embarrassed at his wife's actions."

"Hey Gibs, good to see ya, man." Freddie replied with a wave.

"Mel, can I talk to you in the kitchen? Now!" Sam asked her sister, pulling her toward the kitchen.

"Sorry, Gibby, it's probably about Mom." Mel explained and followed her twin to the kitchen.

"It's alright, Mel. I've gotta get going anyway. Guppy is having a sleepover and I need to check in on him, you know make sure he's not burning the house down or anything." Gibby walked over to Freddie and gave him a quick bro hug. "Good seein' ya Freddie, how was the wedding night?" He asked quietly with an eyebrow wiggle and a nudge.

"Well considering Sam and I dated for three years and lived together for two, I guess it was everything we both expected." Freddie told him.

"Duuude!" Was Gibby's only response with a thumbs up. With that he left to check on his little brother.

"What did Mom do now?" Melanie asked as Sam dragged her into the kitchen.

"Nothing, she came home from her meeting and went to bed. I looked in on her and she's sleeping peacefully. I just need to know what the heck is up with you, Mel? Going out with . . . ugh, I can't even say it."

"Gibby." Mel replied. "Gibby, Gibby, Gibby!"

"La la la la!" I didn't hear that." Sam said covering her ears with her hands and singing like Cat always does when she doesn't want to hear something.

**Chapter 6 coming soon. Thanks for all the likes and follows.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for your reviews, likes and follows. I hope the light hearted format isn't disappointing.**

Chapter 6

Melanie was getting mad at her sister for the reaction to her date. "Sam, I don't want to hear it. Gibby's a nice guy and we've really hit it off."

"When, Mel. You've only been back in Seattle for like, what, six days." Sam inquired.

"Um, actually Sam we sort of hooked up at your wedding." Mel confessed. "We even wound up flying back to Seattle on the same flight and we've been hanging out all week. I was thrilled when he asked me out."

"Wait, what do you mean you hooked up? Like, you guys met at our wedding or you guys 'hooked up' at our wedding."

"Um, I guess . . . both. I mean I sort of knew him from iCarly and he sort of knew me because I'm your sister, but we never really officially met until he came to L.A. We hit it off pretty well and like they say, one thing led to another." Mel told her matter of factly.

"La la la la!" I can't hear you!" Again Sam covered her ears and sang, the thought of her sister hooking up with Gibby made her stomach turn and this is a woman who can eat almost half her weight in fried chicken and chase it with a half gallon milkshake.

"Sam, I know you've known Gibby since middle school, but he's not the awkward, chubby dork you made him out to be on the web show. He's romantic and compassionate and a really good listener and I know he's been with a lot of girls, but he's a grown man now and he says he's ready to settle down."

"Mmmmph." Sam reacted, holding her hand over her mouth. "Sorry, Mel. I just threw up in my mouth a little, the thoughts of Gibby being with a lot of girls. Mmmmph. See, there it happened again."

"Sam, come on! Let me make my own decisions about my love life." Mel pleaded.

"Ugh, I just can't see my twin sister being in love with that shirtless potato-man."

"You see that Sam, you still see him the way you did in high school. He doesn't constantly take his shirt off anymore and if you ever saw him without a shirt on, you certainly wouldn't call him a potato."

"La la la la! I did NOT just hear you say that." Sam replied.

"Ugh! Mel groaned. "There's no getting through to you, you're as bad as Mom."

"You know what, it's your life, Mel. And if I can't let you make your own decisions, then I'm no better than Marissa used to be." Sam finally realized when her sister made the comment.

"That's my sis." Mel said hugging her twin.

"OK, OK, had enough hugs for one decade." Sam told her.

"Sam, are we about ready to go, hun? Mom just texted me that she's getting off work in fifteen minutes and she asked if we could pick her up since we have her car." Freddie stuck his head into the kitchen and asked.

"Yep. Mel and I were done anyway. We'll stop by to see Mom again before we head to the airport tomorrow." Sam told her sister.

* * *

The next morning, Marissa made a healthy breakfast for everyone before Sam and Freddie again borrowed her car to drop in on Pam and Melanie. They pulled into the driveway to see Mel carrying a huge bag of trash to the curb.

"Hey guys." Mel greeted, looking happy as ever.

"Hey Mel." Freddie said back with a smile. Sam just grunted a bit of a greeting and headed for the front door. She was certainly not used to breakfast without bacon and no waffles with syrup and whipped cream made her cranky.

When she stepped inside, she couldn't believe her eyes or her nose. The room certainly smelled better and the clutter was all cleaned up. The couch cushions were straightened with cleanest sides showing. The carpet was obviously just vacuumed and the window curtains were open to allow light into the room, which was normally dark and drab. About that time, Pam stepped out of the kitchen, carrying another trash bag, which she handed to Freddie who had just walked in with Melanie.

"Here, sport, take this out to the curb, would you?" She asked him.

"Um, sure." Freddie said and he turned toward the door.

"Mom, it looks, um, good in here." Sam said.

"Well, Melly and I decided to do some cleaning, straighten the place up a bit. She did the living room, I'm working on the kitchen. You know what, I found a half eaten pizza on top the fridge, Mel says it's been there ever since she got home. The funny thing is, I can't even remember the last time I had pizza."

"Keep up the good work, Mom." Mel told her. "Hey, why don't you let me do some of the dishes and you take a break to talk to Sam and Freddie before they have to leave."

"Good idea." Pam replied. "Hey, either of you want a beer?" She asked flopping down in her recliner.

Sam immediately glared at her.

"I'm kidding Sammy. There's no alcohol in the house, not even cough syrup. I had Mel pour the last of my vodka down the drain first thing this morning."

"Do you have a meeting today, Mom?" Sam asked. "These next couple of weeks are going to be pretty rough."

"Yeah, I know Sammy, I've been through it before." Pam replied. "There's a meeting this afternoon, Mel's going to take me."

"Good." Sam replied as Freddie walked back into the house and put his arm around her. "Stick with it, I know you can make it."

"Yeah, Mom, we believe in you. If you ever need to talk, don't be afraid to call." Freddie said.

"Hey you know what. Mel wants to go shopping for a new couch tomorrow. She said we can put it on her credit card since she's going to be staying here with me." Pam told them.

"That's awfully generous of her." Sam said.

"Well she's got a good job but I want her to get herself a nice car. That old junker of mine isn't dependable. She needs to make sure she can get to work every day you know." Pam talked like she was proud of Melanie. Sam had never heard her say anything that nice about anyone, especially her own kids.

"Gibby's a car salesman." Freddie reminded them. "I'm sure he can help her find a good deal."

"Is that the guy she's been hanging out with?" Pam asked. "That chubby kid you used to pull all those pranks on when you did that web show with Carly?"

"I didn't know you watched the show, Mom?" Sam asked.

"I didn't when you were doing it. But Gloria from my old job used to show me reruns of it on the internet when we were on our lunch break. You guys were hilarious." Pam told them.

"Um, Thanks." Sam replied. "Anyway, we've got to get going. We still have to stop and get Marissa so she can drive us to the airport and she insists that we have to get there super early before our flight."

"Keep in touch, Sam." Mel told them as she came out of the kitchen carrying yet another trash bag. "Maybe we could set up that video chat thing you used to do with Carly when she was in Italy. My new laptop has a built in camera."

"Cool, Mel. I'll send you the log on information and then all you'll have to do is configure your secondary internet connection so you can connect remotely , well first you'll need a good firewall and then . . . " Freddie was cut off by Sam.

"Alright, Fredwad, don't go all nerdy on us now. Remember, this is still technically our honeymoon."

The couple left Pam's, picked up Marissa and headed for the airport. After they said their goodbyes, Sam and Freddie had an uneventful flight to L.A., where Cat was waiting with Carly to pick them up.

"So how was the trip?" The redhead asked Sam with a wink.

"Really great. We toured the Canadian Fatcake factory and saw them make Canadian Bacon and everything." Sam replied.

"Not the food part, silly. The wedding night." Cat said as Carly rolled her eyes at the younger girl's bawdy inquiry.

"Uh, Cat. You remember Freddie and I lived together for two years before we got married?" Sam replied.

"Well, duh. But did you, you know, _do it?_" Cat again asked.

"Ugh, Cat. I don't think we're having this conversation right now, or ever." Sam said dryly.

"Fine, just leave me hanging, why don't ya?" Cat replied in a huff.

"Did you stop in Seattle, like you intended, to visit your moms?" Carly asked.

"Yep." Freddie replied. "And they were surprised, alright."

"Mom's off the wagon again, Carls." Sam told her friend. "Well she was, but I think Fredbag here got her back on track. She was even cleaning the house before we left."

"Wow!" Carly replied. "Did you see Mel, did she get that job she was interviewing for at Seattle General?"

"Yeah, she starts next week." Freddie told her, grabbing the last of their luggage off the carousel. "She says she's going to stay with Pam for a while to make sure she keeps up with her meetings and doesn't stumble again."

"Oh, and Spencer and Sonja say hi." Sam added.

"How about Gibby? Did you see him?" Carly asked.

"Don't even go there, Carls." Sam cut her off.

"What's wrong?" Carly innocently asked.

"Nothing, don't wanna talk about it." Sam snapped.

"Oh-Kay, you told me abut your mom being back on the bottle, but you don't want to talk about one of our friends." Carly inquired.

"He's dating Melanie." Freddie said quietly.

"Whaaaatttt?" Carly almost swallowed her gum with shock.

**Can't you just picture Carly in the shock of what she's just learned. Chapter 7 will be up asap.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Sam punched Freddie in the shoulder. "Don't say chiz like that about my sister."

"Sam, are you guys serious. They actually ended up dating." Cat asked.

"OW!" Freddie said and rubbed his shoulder.

"What do you mean 'ended up'?" Carly asked the younger girl.

"It's just that I caught them making out in the women's room at the church. I sort of thought they had a thing for each other." Cat innocently said.

"And you didn't think this was something I should have been told?" Sam asked

"Hey, I'm not a snitch." Cat replied. "It's none of my business if your sister kissed Freddie's best man. Just like it's none of my business that I caught Carly making out with Jeff in the kitchen at the reception hall, with his. hand. up. her. skirt!"

Carly's face turned bright red. "Um, what can I say. Love me some Jeffy."

"Guess Carly's not so prudish after all." Sam smirked and pur her arm around Freddie.

* * *

Sam and Freddie had been back from their honeymoon for several weeks. There was still over a month before his graduate classes began, but Sam returned to culinary school as soon as they got home. Her favorite teacher was teaching a summer course on soups, stocks and sauces, his specialty, and she couldn't resist the opportunity to take another of his classes.

After the third week of class, Chef Phil asked Sam to see him at the end of the day. This made her very nervous, she had never seen a good outcome to a teacher calling a student to see him after class. Even though she and Phil were friends, he and his wife had even been to her wedding, Sam was sure this would lead to bad news. She missed two classes while she and Freddie were in Canada, and she was hoping that she wasn't so far behind that Phil was going to expel her.

"You-you wanted to see me, sir?" Sam asked the older man. Phil was in his late 40's with graying hair, that he had cut very short. He was a mountain of a man. Not fat, just big in all directions, tall, broad shouldered and very thick. Sam always thought he would have made a great pro wrestler, except for the fact that he wouldn't hurt a fly.

"Sam, I've told you before, you can call me Chef or even just Phil." He told her. "Now I need to ask you a very important question, but before I do, let me remind you that you are under no obligation to say yes."

"Alright, Chef." She said quietly.

"It seems we are in need of a pastry chef down at Ramone's." Ramone's was the restaurant he and his two brothers, Percival and Paul owned. It was named after their father. "My niece, Suzette has been our pastry chef since she was in culinary school and she's going on maternity leave in a few weeks. We'll need someone to fill in for her and I thought you would be perfect for the position."

The chef continued. "My contract with the school says I can't have students working for me without pay, so you would, of course, receive a generous salary."

"I don't know what to say, Chef." Sam started. "I mean, I'm still in training and I don't have near the experience of a lot of these other students."

"You have so much potential, Sam. I think you could really benefit from working in an actual kitchen and we'd be lucky to have someone as good as you. You may not have the experience that some of these others have, but you have a passion for food. In fact, you have more passion than almost all the students I've ever taught. Now I can't promise you anything without my brothers' approval, but it could lead to another position in the future, too."

"Wow, this a lot to take in. Can I think about it and let you know next week?" She asked. "I mean I should talk to Freddie and I still work with Cat, too."

"I understand, Sam. Just let me know as soon as you can. Suzette leaves the third week of August and if we need to hire someone else, we'll have to start looking as soon as possible. Tell you what, why don't you come down and talk to Suzette, she can tell you all about the job and show you the kitchen before you make up your mind."

"Will do, Phil. And thanks for thinking of me." Sam said as she gathered her things and prepared for the ride home.

As soon as Sam returned home, Freddie greeted her at the door with a hug and a kiss.

"Either you did something bad or you want something special for dinner." She observed.

"Can't a guy just greet his beautiful wife without raising suspicion." Freddie asked.

"I guess." She said and returned his kiss. "Now what do you want for dinner?"

"It's up to you, Sam." He responded.

"Actually, I think we should go out tonight." She told him.

"The all you can eat wing buffet?" Freddie asked. "We were just there last week."

"Actually, I was sort of thinking about Ramone's. You know Phil's place."

"Mmm, yeah! They make the best ravioli in town." He told her.

"Before we go, I need to tell you about what happened today in class. Phil actually asked me to come by and speak to his niece, who's their pastry chef." She began. "She's going on maternity leave in a few weeks and Phil asked me if I'd like to fill in for her. With pay, of course."

"Baby, that's terrific." Freddie said. "Wow, we should celebrate."

"I didn't say yes yet. I wanted to talk to you and Cat."

"But why? Sam this is your dream, and to be offered a position, not having to go out and beg for a job, what is there to talk about."

"But I'll be at the restaurant a lot, especially over the weekends. And when you start back to school, we'll hardly ever see each other. Plus I'll feel guilty about leaving Cat stuck with the babysitting all by herself." She explained.

"First of all, I work too and we'll find time for each other. And you know Cat, she'll make do. Honestly, I'm surprised she's even sticking with the babysitting thing now that she's in college herself." Freddie reasoned.

"Either way, I promised him I'd stop by and talk to Suzette, so I'd know what the job is all about before I decide."

"Well let's go, then." Freddie said. "No time like the present."

"Slow down there. He told me she gets a break at 7:30, so I figured we'd go about an hour early so we could eat first. But I think I know what we can do for a little while till it's time to leave." She said, throwing her arms around his neck and pressing their lips together.

"It's like you read my mind." Freddie responded.

* * *

After talking to Suzette, seeing the kitchen and breaking the news to Cat, Sam accepted Phil's offer. She started working at Ramone's the second week of August so she could work with Suzette for a week before being left in charge of the pastry station.

After two weeks of babysitting by herself, Cat was worn out. Her sophomore year was starting and she needed to take a break from work and concentrate on her studies. Since Carly had moved in with Cat, she had some help with the expenses, but Carly was absolutely no help with the little kids.

"Hey Cat, what did you want to talk to me about, oooh, are those your special meatballs?" Sam asked, letting herself into Cat and Carly's apartment.

"Yep. I thought I'd make you a batch before all my classes start, I probably won't have time to do much cooking after that." Cat told her. "Sam, I hope you're not mad, but I think I should take a break from the babysitting and spend more time with my school work."

"I know, Cat. I'm sorry I haven't been much help lately. I spend so much time at Ramone's, I hardly even see Freddie except on Sundays anymore." Sam told her.

"I just hate to give it up, we've got a pretty good thing going, but I just don't have time and not having any help, I'm too tired for anything the next day before noon and that's not good now that school's started."

"Have you asked Carly to help you when you get in a pinch?" Sam asked her young friend.

"Carly's hardly here herself, she's spent almost the whole summer with Jeff, and she really isn't good with little kids. I know she's a teacher, but she teaches junior high English, so she doesn't know how to handle kids less than like, twelve." Cat explained. "And she avoids diapers worse than you do."

"Whoa. That's something. But really school should be your priority. If money gets too tight you can always move into a dorm room." Sam said half jokingly.

"No worries, there, Sam. Carly said she's good with paying the rent and bills as long as I can help with the food and the housework and I have a pretty good amount saved up. Besides, I can always get a job next summer to make some extra money." Cat told her.

"We can always use servers and bus people at the restaurant." Sam said.

"Speaking of which, how's that going?" Cat asked.

"Well, the hours are brutal, especially over the weekend. But the pay's good. I take home over eight hundred a week and they pay all my health insurance so I can't complain too much." Sam confessed. "Plus it's like four blocks from here, so I can almost walk to work if I feel like it. I just wish I could get a little more time with Freddie. We've only been married a couple of months and we hardly see each other."

"Aww, that's too bad. But I bet when you do see each other you make up for it." Cat said with a nudge and a wink.

"Cat, I've told you I'm not talking about my love life with you." Sam said flatly.

**OK, so I know this was just a chapter without much action, but I just wanted to get Sam established in the restaurant.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks to those who have been reviewing and for your favorites and follows.**

Chapter 8

"Just remember, your love life started right under my nose, so don't think you're hiding anything here Missy." Cat replied with a huff.

"Ugh!"

About that time Carly came through the door.

"And where have you been, canoodling with Jeff?" Cat asked.

"I was down at the school setting up my classroom. School starts on Monday and I want to be all ready to go. Jeff's taking me to San Francisco for the weekend and I don't want to have to think about anything work related then." Carly explained.

"Hey you guys, I've gotta get going. Freddie gets home from work at 5:00 and I don't have to go in this evening, so we're going to see each other for the first time in almost a week, maybe see a movie or something." Sam said as she got up.

"Have fun, Sam." Carly told her.

"Yeah, don't do anything I wouldn't do, wink, wink." Cat said.

"Um, eww. Cat you have a dirty mind." Carly told her red headed roommate.

"What?" Cat innocently said. "I said _not_ to."

Sam returned home to see Freddie already sitting at the table with his laptop open. For some reason, he looked worried.

"What's going on babe?" She asked him.

"Uh, Sam. I don't know how to tell you this, but we have a problem." He said not looking up from the screen.

"You're scaring me, Freddie. What happened? Please tell me Mel's not marrying Gibby or something." Sam asked, sort of sarcastically as she walked up behind him and draped herself around his neck.

"No, nothing like that." He said in a monotone.

"So you're serious, then. OK what's wrong?" She again plied. "Is it something with my mom?"

"I'm losing my job, Sam." He confessed. "It seems Radio Hut has been losing money hand over fist and they're closing over two thirds of their stores. And ours is one of them. What are we going to do, Sam."

The blonde thought for a minute, while nuzzling into Freddie's neck. "I think you're making a big deal out of nothing, Freddie, as soon as your classes begin, you were going to cut back your hours anyway, right?"

Freddie nodded. "What's your point?"

"Well, I'm making twice what I did babysitting and I'm only taking one class this fall so that cuts down an expense. And you can still do your web design stuff and all that other tech-y chiz, right?"

Again Freddie nodded. "Yeah."

"So we're probably further ahead than we were last year. I doubt what you would have made part time is more than the extra I'm making." Sam was starting to make sense. "And everyone knows you're a tech whiz, right. So maybe you can start doing repair work for people, too. You weren't allowed to do it on the side while you worked for Radio Hut, but you can do whatever you want now."

"Hey, you're right, but how did you work all this out so fast? You always said you were bad at math."

"I might be bad at math, but I did take a class in economics. Forget adding x and y, give me dollars and cents and I can make sense of it." Sam replied smugly.

"All I'll have to do is get some online ads set up and yeah, yeah this will work." Freddie sounded relieved. "Thanks, baby. You always know how to make me feel better." Freddie slid his chair back and Sam climbed into his lap. "Now I'm really feeling better." He said with a kiss to her lips.

"I was thinking we should go out tonight, you know see a movie or something. But now I think we should maybe stay in." Sam said returning the kiss.

* * *

Freddie's classes began two weeks later and even though the couple saw a lot less of each other they made the very best out of the time they had. Since Sam had to work Friday and Saturdays and at least two evenings each week, Freddie had plenty of time to himself for his studies and to do his tech work at home. Sundays were reserved for their couple time and for spending time with their friends.

It took some getting used to, but their new routine started to become a bit easier to deal with. The money was definitely good and Freddie even proposed the idea of flying to Seattle for Thanksgiving so they could see their mothers and friends again.

It took her a couple of months, but Sam was beginning to get into the groove with the pastry station at the restaurant. She never thought it could be so much work to make food, but she didn't really think of it as work because she thoroughly enjoyed what she was doing.

The second week of November, Sam got a call to go into work on a day she was scheduled for off. She didn't mind, but when she got there she was told that Chef Phil's older brother had been taken to the hospital and Phil was going along with him and they needed Sam to help cover for the short staff in the kitchen.

Two days later, Phil called Sam himself, again to ask her to help cover for him in the kitchen.

"Sam, I need you to come into work today, I apologize for the short notice." Phil said as she answered her phone.

"It's alright, Phil. I don't mind. I just hope Percy's feeling better." Sam replied.

She was met with silence for a few seconds before she heard Phil gasp a bit. "Actually, Sam, we lost him early this morning."

"Oh, Phil. I'm so sorry. I mean, I only met Percy one time but he was so much fun. And I know you guys were close."

"Yeah, we were. Even after he retired and wasn't in the restaurant as often, we still managed to talk every day. You know, it's funny, when we worked together, we argued all the time, even more than Paul and I do, and you know first hand, that's a lot. But at the end of the day, he was still my big brother and we never went home mad at each other." Chef Phil was on the verge of a very understandable breakdown.

"I'm going to head in right now, Phil, so we can get the kitchen set up. Is there anyone covering for Paul?" Sam asked.

"Paul insists that he's coming in to work this evening. He says he can't stand to sit at home. You know, he's divorced and he really doesn't have anybody. I guess he figures he'll feel better if he's working." Phil explained.

"Call me if you need anything, Phil." Sam replied. "We'll hold things down at work."

Sam left Freddie a brief note and headed in to work. When he returned home from his classes, he read the note and simply got to work putting together a web commercial for a dog groomer that was a friend of Dice's. Sam didn't go into all the details in the note, she just said she had to go to work.

By the time Sam got home, she was completely exhausted and just dropped onto the couch like a lifeless blob. Chef Paul broke down about halfway through the shift at work and wound up spending the rest of the day in the office talking to his priest on the phone. The restaurant was extremely busy that evening and Sam not only had to help cover for Paul, but she was completely tied to the soup station in Phil's absence. Other than his niece, she was the only one Phil would trust with his soup recipes.

"You look like you've had it, babe." Freddie said when he saw her.

"It was terrible, Freddie. I don't know how much more of this I can take. Everything below my knees is numb."

"Hang in there, Sam. You told me Suzette is returning in a week." Freddie tried to reassure her and sat on the floor in front of the couch and began rubbing her feet.

"I don't know about that, now." She told him. "Percy died this morning and she may need some more time. She told me how difficult it was for her when she lost her mom and now she has to deal with losing her dad so soon after having the baby."

"What about Phil and Paul?" He asked. "How are they holding up?"

"Well, Phil was smart enough to stay home, but Chef Paul tried to work and he couldn't hack it. I hope they can find someone to cover for him tomorrow." Sam said. "I'm going to grab a shower and go to bed. I told them I'd be in early tomorrow to get a jump on the soups again, thank goodness I don't have class again until Tuesday."

"Surely, Phil can get another student or two to come in." Freddie suggested.

"I sure hope so." She replied. "Either way, I doubt things will be back to normal in time for us to go to Seattle for Thanksgiving like we were planning."

"It'll be OK, baby. Maybe we can make it for Christmas and spend a little more time." He tried to reassure his tired and stressed out wife.

"I guess. I was just hoping that since your mom and I were getting along and Pam's dried out, we could have a nice, normal Thanksgiving. You know, like a family for a change."

Sam made it through the next few days without completely losing her mind. Phil had two more of the students come in to help fill in, but Sam was still pretty much left in charge of the kitchen in the two brothers' absence, despite her only working there for a little while. In time, Paul and Phil returned to work and Suzette came back to take over her usual position. Sam figured she'd be dropped back to a part time position and just fill in when other people were on vacation or called in sick. Instead, they kept her on the schedule full time and she was glad to give Suzette a hand getting back into the swing of things since her maternity leave.

Paul and Phil met with Sam just before Christmas. She thought for sure this would be when the axe fell on her full time job.

"Sam, we just wanted to say thank you for all you've done around here these last couple of months. You really stepped up when we needed you and we appreciate all the extra time you put in." Paul began.

"Yes, Sam. You've went above and beyond and really proven yourself under fire." Phil continued. "We've been discussing this and we wanted to give you a nice holiday bonus as thanks for all you've done."

Paul then handed Sam an envelope. She opened it expecting to see a check, but instead it contained a rather legal looking document printed on restaurant letterhead.

**Sorry about having to kill off a character, but he wasn't a major character, just sort of a 'red shirt guy'. Can anyone guess what's in the envelope?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for all your reviews and support, hope everyone's liking it so far.**

Chapter 9

The top line said 'partnership agreement'. Sam looked at Paul with a puzzled expression and then shifted her eyes to Phil.

"This is no joke, Sam." Phil assured her. "Paul and I talked with Suzette, since she now owns Percy's third of the restaurant and we're all in agreement that we would like to make you our junior partner. Now it's just ten percent for now, but after something happens to either of us it may be more."

"That's right, my son has no interest in the restaurant business." Paul spoke up. "And I have no one else."

"And since Gloria and I don't have any kids, my interest in the business has to go to someone." Phil added.

"You guys, I don't know what to say." Sam was practically speechless. Here she was with just a little over two years in culinary training under her belt and she was being offered a partnership in a very successful restaurant.

"I understand, you'll want to have your lawyer look over the agreement before you sign it." Paul stated. "The offer is open for as long as you need, Sam"

"It's not that, you guys." Sam stated. "This is all just so overwhelming. I mean, I thought you were calling me in here to tell me you didn't need me anymore. And here you are offering me a partnership."

"Not at all, Sam. We don't ever want to see you go." Phil stated.

"It's just that Freddie and I were hoping to maybe take a week and go to Seattle for Christmas. You know to see our families." She continued.

"Is that all." Paul spoke up.

"Well, I know it sounds lame, but . . . " Sam started

"No problem, Sam." Phil said. "We can live with you taking a week or so off to visit your family, right Paul."

"Certainly." Paul said. "As a matter of fact, I have a friend who's a big shot for an airline. I think he owes me a favor. Maybe we could even arrange for your tickets."

"That's a great idea."Phil said. "Oh, and after you get back, we're going to all sit down and go over the work schedule. It's not fair that you should have to work every Friday and Saturday and leave that husband of yours home alone so much. You guys are still newlyweds for gosh sake."

"I'll try to have your tickets tomorrow, I'll text you the flight information as soon as I talk to my buddy." Paul told her.

Sam was so excited, she could hardly wait to tell Freddie. She resisted the urge to spill the beans when she called him on her break. The rest of the shift seemed like an eternity, especially after Paul told her they were booked on a flight in three days.

It was a little later than usual when Sam got home that evening. Freddie had dozed off on the couch watching some 'nerdy documentary about World War 2', as she called them. She kissed him awake. "Come on Fredlumps, I brought us some dinner, I just need to zap it for a minute and then we can eat."

"I'll wash up and set the table." He told her. They were both used to eating late especially when Sam would bring home dinner.

As the two ate, Sam told Freddie her big news. "You'll never guess what happened today she told him with a wide smile."

"Well, I'm guessing it's nothing bad, considering you're smiling."

"Actually there are two things. How soon are you ready to head to Seattle?" She asked.

"It would be kind of nice to be there for Christmas." He replied. "But I doubt we could get a flight now, they're always overbooked around the holidays. And it would be really expensive at the last minute like this."

"How would it be if we left of Friday?" Sam proposed.

"I'd say, if you were serious, we better get started on our packing right after dinner. And we still need to get your mom something for Christmas. I can't believe you went and booked us a flight. That's a nice surprise, Sam. I'm guessing you weren't busy tonight."

"Oh, no. the restaurant was as busy as we normally are on a Tuesday." She told him. "But Chef Paul has a friend who's some executive at the airline and he called in a favor and got us tickets. No charge. And here's the best part, they're first class."

"Are you serious, they're just giving us two first class tickets to Seattle?" Freddie was shocked. "That's really generous, so I'm guessing that's your Christmas bonus."

"Um, actually, this is my Christmas bonus." Sam pulled the envelope out of her backpack and slid it across the table to her husband. She kept a good poker face and Freddie didn't know if it was good news or bad.

"What's this?" He asked, fearing the worst. After all, Suzette had returned to work and Sam was only hired to fill in for her.

"Just open it, Frednub." She encouraged, trying not to let her anxiety betray her.

He pulled the document out slowly until he read the words 'Partnership Agreement', then quickly pulled it the rest of the way out of the envelope.

"Sam, is this what I think it is?" He asked while quickly trying to read over the pages in his hand. Freddie had taken a law class or two in college and was currently taking another in grad school, so he was somewhat familiar with what this meant.

"They're offering me a ten percent partnership, babe. According to what Phil tells me, they made almost a million last year. So if we keep that up, my cut would be about a hundred thousand plus all the benefits." Sam explained.

"Ahhhh, this is great. It's beyond great, it's fantastic. I can hardly believe it." He stood up and shouted. "I'm so proud of you, baby!"

"And they promised after our trip, we're going to sit down and go over the schedule so I don't have to work every weekend."

Freddie grabbed Sam and the two threw their arms around each other. After a long passionate kiss they finished their dinner. Sam cleared the table as Freddie loaded the dishwasher. They soon took to the couch to snuggle in front of the TV. Several long kisses later Sam suggested they call it a day.

"I know we said we need to start packing, but I can think of something more fun to do right now." He suggested as they reached their bedroom.

"Great minds think alike." She replied as they began to kiss again.

* * *

That Friday Sam and Freddie boarded their flight to Seattle. He had told his mother they were coming and what time their flight got in so she was waiting for them at the airport. Sam was the first one to spot Marissa waiting by the baggage carousel. Her mother in law couldn't help herself and forced a huge hug onto Sam before releasing her and grabbing Freddie.

"Sam. You're looking so beautiful. And Freddiekins, I've missed you so much, dear." Marissa told them.

"We missed you too, Mom." Freddie replied.

"Let's grab our bags and get out of here." Sam suggested. Since they were in the first class section, they got off the plane first and Sam wanted to get their luggage before the crowd arrived from the back of the plane.

"So I have a wonderful family dinner planned for our holiday meal." Marissa explained as they waited for the carousel to start. "And Sam, I talked to Melanie this morning, I hope I haven't overstepped my bounds, but I invited her and your mother for Christmas dinner, too."

"Really? Wow, I don't know what to say." Sam was uncharacteristically speechless. Marissa wasn't a fan of Pam or her style of parenting and even though she liked Melanie, it just seemed so unusual for her to invite them.

"Thanks, Marissa. I haven't talked to Mel since Wednesday. We were actually wondering what we could do for Christmas with Mom." Sam said.

"Melanie tells me your mother is doing much better. She says she's even trying to quit smoking." Marissa told them. "I heard she's even got herself a part time job at the hospital. It's janitorial, but she's happy with it and she hasn't missed a day from what I understand."

"Wait, you mean my mom's actually cleaning stuff for a job. This I have to see, I mean she didn't even own a vacuum cleaner most of my childhood." Sam said with a smirk.

"Here come the bags now. Sam, stay here with Mom, I'll grab them." Freddie suddenly said.

**Chapter 10 coming asap.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks to those who have been takeing time to give reviews and for the follows.**

**OK, so our friends are back in Seattle for the holidays. There's a little bit of drama coming up in a chapter or two.**

Chapter 10

Soon they were on their way back to Bushwell in Mrs. Benson's car. They were greeted in the lobby by Lewbert, who was still weird as ever about people tracking up his floor. He knew better than to shout at either Sam or Marissa, because they would both shout back and Sam was likely to harm him physically. He simply grumbled about the mess and grabbed his mop, cleaning the floor behind the Bensons as they made their way to the elevator.

After they entered the apartment and put their luggage away in Freddie's old bedroom, Marissa suggested it was time for dinner. Soon she and Sam were in the kitchen together, even though Sam wasn't into all the bland health food Mrs. Benson seemed to always want to prepare, she tried to use her skills to make their dinner as tasty as possible.

"So Sam, Freddie tells me you've been working a lot of extra time at the restaurant and that you gave up the babysitting business." Marissa asked while the two cooked.

"Yeah, I hated to walk away from it, but Cat really needed to devote more time to college and I was offered the position at Ramone's, so we both figured the time was right. Hey, do you have any garlic?"

"And that's not the best part. Tell her what they asked you on Tuesday." Freddie added from the doorway as Marissa searched for a head of garlic.

"I was getting there, Fredward!" Sam snapped at him, taking the garlic Marissa was handing her.

"My bosses offered me a junior partnership." Sam proudly told her mother in law. "It's only ten percent, but just them offering it to me is like the second best thing that's ever happened to me."

"What's the first?" Freddie asked with a frown, feeling very dejected all of a sudden.

"Marrying you, goofball." She smugly told him. "Marissa, have any cilantro?"

"Oh, Saman, er Sam that's terrific, they must really think a lot of you and your skills to offer that to you. Sorry, no cilantro. But I do have basil." Marissa told her, handing her the small jar.

"OK, that'll work. How about oregano?" Sam asked, stirring a small amount of the basil into the sauce she was making. "I was really overwhelmed when they made the offer. I almost thought they were going to let me go."

"And her one boss, he called in a favor and got us the plane tickets, first class and all." Freddie told his mother.

Soon, Sam's pasta sauce was complete but she kept adding a bit of this and a bit of that clear up until Marissa was done rolling up all the tofu 'meat' balls. Though she almost considered it sacrilegious to pour her sauce over the mound of pseudo-meat Marissa had concocted, she did so with a smile just to please the older woman. The meatballs and sauce went into the oven to finish cooking, while Marissa put water on to boil for the whole wheat, organic pasta she had sitting on the counter.

To Freddie's surprise, the two Mrs. Bensons worked well together and before long the three of them sat down to their dinner. He couldn't believe something out of his mom's kitchen was actually edible. "Wow, this is really good." He said, sounding surprised.

"I hope you didn't think we were going to poison you, Fredlumps." His wife told him.

"I agree, this is exceptional, Sam." Marissa remarked. "I used to make these meatballs all the time for Freddie when he was a kid and they never turned out this flavorful."

The use of the word _meatballs_ caused Sam to roll her eyes almost back into her head. 'tofu isn't meat and it never will be' she thought to herself. "Eh, it's nothing much, I just added some herbs to make the sauce a bit more rich. And with certain herbs, we can actually cut out some of the salt, which makes it a little healthier." Sam added just to see Marissa's reaction.

"If this is the way you prepare food at the restaurant, I can see why they offered you a partnership, you are a great cook." Marissa praised. "You'll have to write down the recipe so I can make this sauce again, I've never had anything like it."

After their dinner, Freddie and Sam helped clean up the kitchen while Marissa told them all about her plans for Christmas dinner. They borrowed her car and went to visit Pam and Melanie for a couple of hours before it got too late. They could hardly believe what they saw upon pulling into the driveway. The shrubbery was trimmed and the dead bushes replaced with new ones. The carport was cleaned off and the peeling window trim had been painted.

They rang the bell and waited for only a few seconds before Pam answered the door. "Sammy. Freddie. Come on in. I was wondering when you'd get here."

They went in and were shocked at the condition of the house. There was a new sofa and matching recliner. The old cigarette burned coffee table had been repainted and a flat screen TV hung on the wall opposite the couch. In the corner of the living room, next to the TV, was a modest sized Christmas tree, decorated tastefully. Sam had never seen a Christmas tree in her home before and just about passed out at the site. Most surprising to her, the place no longer smelled of cigarette smoke and a dirty cat box.

"Mom, the place looks great!" Sam exclaimed. "You must have worked for months on this."

Mel walked in from the kitchen in her scrubs. "About time you two got here. I have to leave for work in fifteen minutes and I didn't want to miss you." Mel hugged both of them and invited them to sit down.

"Melly tells me we're invited to Marissa's for Christmas dinner." Pam told them.

"Yeah, she says she would like to have everyone together." Freddie explained.

"As long as I get to do most of the cooking." Sam said. "I hate to think what those tofu balls she made earlier today would have tasted like without a decent sauce."

"It's not good, I can tell you that from experience." Freddie said with a shiver

"So you say you're doing the cooking? We're in, right Melly?" Pam said. "I can't wait for some turkey and stuffing."

"Sounds good to me." Mel replied.

"I've got some news before you have to go, Mel" Sam told them.

"Are you pregnant?" Pam blurted out.

"Um, no." Sam said flatly, giving her a stern look. "It's about work. You know how I told you I was filling in for my boss's niece while she was on maternity leave. Well, they offered me a ten percent partnership."

"Holy crap, Sam. You mean you're going to own ten percent of a restaurant?" Mel exclaimed.

"Yep, she's signing the paperwork as soon as we get back." Freddie told them. "I'm just so proud of her, they say everyone has their calling and I know this has got to be hers."

"That's great, Sammy." Pam exclaimed. "I'm glad you didn't say you were pregnant, I'm too young to be a grandmother."

"Mom, you're 46, Mel said as she rolled her eyes."

"I'm 38!" Pam argued.

"Mom you were 24 when Mel and I were born, we're 22, so that means you're 46." Sam explained.

"Huh, so that's why I feel so old some days."

Everyone got a chuckle out of Pam's statement before Mel had to leave for work.

"Do you guys want to wait around for a little while, I have an AA meeting in half an hour." Pam said.

"Do you want us to drive you?" Freddie asked

"Sure, I could call Emma and tell her to just meet me there. She usually picks me up, I guess she's worried that I might miss the meeting if she doesn't come for me."

Freddie and Sam took Pam to her meeting and afterward the three of them stopped for coffee on the way home.

"How was the meeting?" Sam asked her mother.

"As good as any of them." Pam replied. "You know, I should be getting my six month chip soon."

"Keep up the good work." Freddie told her.

"Yeah, Mom. We know you can do it." Sam smiled at her mother. For the first time in her life, Sam was actually proud of her mother. "Let's get you home, I need to get some rest, I'm planning on being in the kitchen all day tomorrow so we have a decent Christmas dinner, not some kind of tofu blended, gluten free, flavorless excuse for a meal."

"Mom means well, Sam. She's just obsessed with health food that's all." Freddie said.

"Well, I'm obsessed with flavor and texture." Sam retorted. "I've got a plan to make a tasty dinner that's not too unhealthy, but we've got to hit the market first thing in the morning."

**And we know Sam wouldn't let Marissa get away with some tofu wrapped, flavorless holiday dinner.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's more of the couple's visit back home for Christmas. Thanks for all the reviews and follows.  
**

Chapter 11

After they dropped Pam off at her house, the couple headed back to Marissa's. They bumped into Sonja in the hall.

"Sam, Freddie. Carly told me you were coming to Seattle. When did you get in?" She asked.

"This afternoon." Freddie replied.

"We were just getting back from my mom's." Sam told her. "We should get together, but I've got to spend some major time in the kitchen so we're ready for Christmas dinner."

"Spence and I are going to my folks' place for Christmas. We're having our own Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow, really informal, why don't you guys stop over? Bring Marissa, too." Sonja proposed.

"That sounds like fun." Freddie said. "What time?"

"About six or so. Spencer insists that we eat early so we have lots of room for Christmas dinner."

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Sam said. "Tell Spence we said hey."

Bright and early the next morning, Sam was ready to do some grocery shopping. Marissa was working, so her and Freddie went to the local Mega-Mart and brought back no less than fourteen bags containing everything from baking supplies to spices and ham to potatoes. Freddie knew that this was far more food than his mom normally kept in the house, but Sam knew exactly what she needed to complete the dinner and desserts she had planned.

"You're making both ham and turkey for Christmas?" Freddie asked as he carried the last of the bags into the kitchen.

"Nope. The ham's for our dinner tonight, and lots of leftover ham sandwiches later on." Sam replied. "Don't worry, I'll fix that ham so even your mom will eat it."

"So what do you need me to do?" He asked.

"Just stay out of my way and be prepared to help stir and wash dishes." Sam told him. "First on my list is baking cookies, so you can clear off the table and spread out a couple of kitchen towels with parchment paper on them for a cooling station. And we need to get that turkey in the brine right away if its going to have any flavor. Does your mom have a big stock pot or something big enough to soak it in?"

"I think she has one big soup pot, it's probably on the top shelf in the pantry."

Soon the turkey was marinating and Sam had mixed up batter for three different kinds of cookies and was working on a fourth. "Freddie, when you're done washing that big yellow bowl, could you open up a couple of bags of those bread cubes and dump them out in it to dry?"

By the time Marissa got home the table was filled with containers full of all kinds of cookies. The stuffing bread wasn't drying fast enough in the bowl, so Sam dumped it out on the cookie sheets when she was done baking and put them in the warm oven to help speed up the process. "Sam, Freddie, what's all this?" Marissa asked. "It smells so good in here, what is that aroma?"

"It's spiced apple cider and I think it's almost ready. I just thought I'd make some Christmas cookies and try to get a jump on getting things ready for tomorrow so there's not so much work in the morning." Sam told her. Truthfully, Sam had no intention of eating Marissa's food without at least attempting to give it some flavor. Even though the two Mrs. Bensons were getting along, Sam still felt Marissa couldn't cook to save her life and her obsession with what she felt were healthy foods was borderline disgusting in the blonde's mind.

"You didn't have to spend so much time cooking, dear. This is your Christmas vacation and here you are doing the same thing you have to do every day at work." Marissa offered.

"It's OK, I love to cook and bake and you were the one who had to actually go into work today. Freddie and I just hate to see you doing so much work after your long shift at the hospital, isn't that right, Freddie?" Sam explained as she headed back into the kitchen.

"Um, ye-yeah, Mom. Sit down, you've been on your feet all day. I'll bring you some spiced cider, it's really good." Freddie began to make his way to the kitchen for a cup of cider, but Sam already had a cup ready for her mother in law and met him in the doorway.

"Dinner will be ready in about half and hour, since we're having turkey tomorrow, I decided to make us a ham for dinner tonight, I hope that's alright." Sam told her.

"Oh, Sam. Ham is so salty and I've been trying to avoid any kind of red meat, but I guess a little bit will be OK." Marissa normally wouldn't even touch a ham sandwich given the choice, but she figured she could eat a small amount and not insult Sam.

"Wait until you try her baked ham, Mom. It's not salty at all and it's so tender, you really will like it." Freddie told her to try to keep her mind open. "And she made three cheese potato casserole to go with it and steamed broccoli and carrots."

"That sounds good, Freddikins. We just can't eat too much." Marissa told him as Sam stood behind her and rolled her eyes. Like she would let any ham get away from her.

"Mom, Sonja invited us over this evening, would you like to come along?" Her son asked.

"You two go ahead, I'm going to get cleaned up and get to bed early, I'll have to be up early to get that turkey stuffed and in the oven if we're going to be eating at noon."

"Um, actually, I have a plan for that bird that will save you from getting up before daybreak, Marissa." Sam announced. "Just let me take care of it. We may not be eating right at noon, but that's why Freddie volunteered to get up and make us a nice Christmas breakfast, isn't that right, sweetie?"

Sam nudged Freddie for his response. "Oh, um, yeah, Mom, we have it all taken care of. Why don't you go along with us this evening, it'll be fun."

"You two are working entirely too hard." Marissa scolded "After all, this is your holiday vacation."

"We don't mind. We're just glad we had the chance to come back to Seattle for the holidays" Freddie told his mother and gave her a hug.

Later on after the ham dinner was finished up, Sam, Freddie and Marissa headed over to Spencer's

"Come on in." Sonja greeted them at the door. "Spencer's just upstairs he'll be down in a minute."

From the kitchen a familiar brunette ran over to them. "Sam!" She greeted and threw her arms around the blonde.

"Carly? Wha-what are you doing in Seattle?" Freddie asked as the two girls left go of each other.

"Spencer called me on Wednesday and asked what I was doing for Christmas. Since I didn't have any plans, I figured why not. Just between us, I think Sonja's getting a bit overwhelmed with the wedding planning and she wants to get some help, but don't say anything." Carly whispered the last part.

"I thought you were done with the whole wedding planner thing?" Freddie asked quietly so Sonja wouldn't hear.

"Oh, it's just this once. And it is for family. Shh, Sonja's coming." Carly replied as her future sister in law and Marissa walked toward the kitchen."

"What are you three whispering about?" Sonja asked them.

"Nothing, nothing, just getting caught up." Carly replied. About that time Spencer came down the stairs followed by none other than Cat Valentine. Spencer approached Freddie and shook his hand but before he could get to Sam, the blonde was again besieged by a terminal hugger.

"Sam, I missed you so much!" Cat exclaimed.

"You saw me two days ago." Sam reminded her, trying to escape the younger girl's arms. "And what are you doing in Seattle?"

"You and Freddie were going away for Christmas, Nona went on an old people's holiday cruise and Carly was leaving town so I was going to be all alone." Cat told her with a pout on her face.

"I felt so sorry for her, I just had to bring her along. I couldn't stand the thought of poor Cat spending Christmas all by herself." Carly explained. "Did Spencer show you where to put your things, Cat?"

"Yep, and I can't believe I get to sleep in the iCarly studio" Cat shrieked.

"They just got in a little while ago, too. Spencer was waiting at the airport since ten this morning, their flight was delayed, something about the weather over Seattle." Sonja told them.

"It was terrible, we sat in that plane for almost four hours before we even took off from LAX." Carly whined.

"It wasn't so bad, we had a lot of fun playing games." Cat said, ever so cheerful. No doubt, this girl could find the silver lining in any cloud.

"They wouldn't let us turn on our phones. We were stuck playing hangman and tic tac toe on the back of the in flight magazines and barf bags." Carly said with a frown.

"Well, we're all here now." Sam said, putting her arms around her two friends. "When do we get to eat."

"Same old Sam." Spencer said with his arm around Sonja.

As the group gathered around the table filled with cookies and all kind of home made Christmas treats, Spencer got everyone's attention. "Um, hey guys, Sonja and I need to tell you all something."

**Just wanted to throw in a little cliffhanger there. Most of you can probably guess what the announcement will be.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"We just found out last week." Sonja began. "We're having a baby."

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Carly squealed. 'I'm going to be an aunt!"

"Yep." Spencer said. "The doctor says the baby should be here in early July."

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Sam asked.

"It's too soon to tell. By the next appointment, they should be able to see for sure." Sonja responded.

"Buy we're not sure if we want to know." Spencer told them seriously.

"That's crazy." Carly flatly said. "How do you know what color to paint the nursery or what clothes to buy?"

"We'll just go with neutral colors and clothes. We sort of thought of it this way, it's like the biggest present in the world, so why not make it a real surprise." Sonja explained.

"If it were me, I'd want to know." Sam said. About that time she noticed Marissa looking at her wide eyed. "But I-I'm not the one having the baby, so it's none of my business."

"You will someday, dear." Marissa said.

"But not for a long time. Right Freddie?" Sam told her.

"Um, oh, oh, yeah, right. We're definitely going to be waiting a while. I mean, I'm still in school and Sam's just getting started at the restaurant." He said.

"Just don't make me wait too long for grandchildren." Marissa said with a smile. "I'm not getting any younger, I think it would be nice to have a great big family, you know at least 2 boys and 2 girls."

Marissa didn't notice the horrified look on her daughter in law's face at this suggestion.

After the get together, as Sam and Freddie were settling down for bed in Freddie's old bedroom, Sam brought up the subject again.

"Can you believe your mom getting all worked up about us having kids. Gheesh, we've only been married for six months, what does she think I am a baby machine." Sam said with an eye roll.

"Relax, Sam. My mom's just trying to have a big family vicariously through us. I know she wanted more kids than just me, but my dad got sick before they could have any more. Then about the time they thought he was getting better and they were going to try, he relapsed and was gone."

"Well, anybody who thinks I'm squeezing four kids out of my lady parts better go check into the mental ward. I mean, I get queasy just thinking about it doing it once, let alone going back and doing it over and over again." Sam shuddered.

"No matter what she thinks it's still our decision, Sam. And she'll just have to be OK with it. And you know what, if we have one kid or ten or none at all, I'll still love you just as much." Freddie told her and pulled her into him.

"God, you're a sap." Sam said with a flick to his nose. "But I love you for it."

* * *

Christmas morning, Freddie made waffles and bacon for breakfast as he promised, even though his mother wouldn't eat the bacon, which was alright with Sam, it just meant more for her. Melanie and Pam showed up at Marissa's apartment for the mid day Christmas dinner. Marissa invited them in with a quick hug for Melanie. She wasn't quite sure how to approach Pam, but the elder Puckett extended a hand to Marissa.

"Thanks for the invite, Marissa. I really appreciate your including Melly and I with your holiday plans." Pam proceeded to the sofa and plopped herself down, propping her feet up on the coffee table. "We would have brought some wine, but since I'm in AA, Melly suggested we skip the trip to the liquor store."

"You're very welcome, Pamela." Marissa replied. "We're all family here, make yourself at home."

"Do you mind if I take my shoes off?" Pam asked.

"Oh, please do. Be, um, comfortable." Marissa replied. It was actually the rule not to wear shoes in Marissa's home because of tracking germs and dirt in from the outside.

Freddie took his mother in law's shoes and placed them on the antibacterial mat by the door. "Can I get you anything, Pam?"

"You have any cranberry juice, I've trying to ward off a kidney stone and that handsome Doc Earl from urology told me to drink plenty of the stuff." Pam replied.

"Actually, I have some, I try to drink three glasses a day myself." Marissa told her. "Just to keep regular." She whispered.

"What became of my Sammy?" Pam asked when Freddie returned to the living room with her drink. "I'll bet she's still in bed, it's only noon."

"She's in the kitchen, Mom." Mel told her.

"She's been up since eight making sure everything is running smoothly." Freddie said and Pam looked shocked.

"I told her she didn't have to try to do it all, but she just insisted." Marissa said as she went into the kitchen herself.

"I'm sure she wanted to make sure we had a good dinner, she told me what you cook li . . ." Pam started as Mel shoved a hand over her mother's mouth.

"Mother!" Mel shouted quietly. "Don't say things like that."

"I'm sorry, Pamela. I couldn't hear a word you said, Sam was just using the mixer for the potatoes." Marissa said, coming out of the kitchen and going toward the dining room table with a basket of rolls and a dish of pickles in her hands.

Mel quickly left go of her mother's face. "Uh, she was just saying how Sam loves to cook and that she wanted to make sure this was a special meal since it's our first one together as a family. Right Mom?"

"Oh, uh, mm-hmm" Pam said sipping her drink. Mel just gave her mother the dirty looks.

As the Benson/Puckett family sat down to their dinner, Sam started to tell her sister about Sonja and Spencer's little surprise. "Hey, Mel. Did you hear Spencer and Sonja are having a kid?"

"Are you serious?" Mel said with a gasp. "I thought you guys would be the first, you know since you got married first."

"Um, No, we're not even thinking about that yet." Freddie said. He immediately noticed his mother's disappointed look. "I mean, I'm still in school and Sam's been working so hard, we just need to get our ducks in a row first." He said looking at his mom with a smile, he knew she would understand them thinking of things in such a responsible way. "We have lots of time, we're only in our early twenties."

"Just don't wait too long." Marissa said. "You don't want to still have kids in college when you retire."

"Ah, wait a while." Pam said. "I still say I'm too young to be a grandma."

After their meal, the doorbell rang. Mel looked excited as Freddie got up to answer it for his mother.

"Giiibbaaayy!" The guest said as her entered the apartment, gave Freddie a bro hug and headed toward Melanie. The two shared a quick kiss and a hug.

"Merry Christmas, Gib." Mel said.

"Merry Christmas, my sweet." He replied.

"Ugh, spare us the cutesy nicknames." Sam said with a groan. "I just ate."

"I hope you guys don't mind, but I asked Gibby to stop by and walk me to his place. We're visiting with his family this evening."

"Can you believe this guy, Isn't he something?" Pam commented. "I'm really happy that Melly found such a great fellow."

"Yep, he's something alright." Sam said, rolling her eyes toward Freddie. "Mel can you give me a hand in the kitchen with the eggnog?"

As the two stepped into the kitchen, Mel figured that her sister was going to again berate her choice of boyfriend.

"Sam, before you start, I don't want to hear it. I really like Gibby and I almost think this is going to be permanent, so just back off."

"Whoa there, ol' girl. A bit defensive aren't we?" Sam remarked with a smirk.

"I just know how you feel about Gib, and I really think it's time for you to get over it. Who knows, he might be related to you some day." Mel told her, arms crossed.

Sam's eyes grew wide and she did her best to hide the terrified look on her face.

**Gibby and Melanie being "permanent", isn't that something? Sorry this one's a bit short, I'll try to make up for it next time.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Just so you all know, I like the Cibby pairing too, but I wanted to throw something new out there. Plus it just seemed funny to pair Gibby up with Sam's twin, just so Sam could freak out over it.**

Chapter 13

"I wasn't going to say anything about Gibby. I was going to ask you how things re going with Mom. But now that you say it that way. . . "

"Things are going great with her, she hasn't missed a single meeting and I think she might even be sweet on one of the guys that works in the lab at the hospital. Don't say I said anything, but I've heard she's been eating lunch with him and they were pretty friendly at the Christmas party last week."

"As long as he's a good guy and isn't going to pull her down." Sam said.

"Nah, I think he's alright. I've asked around. He got divorced about 4 or 5 years ago, his wife was running around with some big shot plastic surgeon. From what I hear, he's a real down to earth guy." Mel told her.

"Good." Sam said. "Now what was it you were saying about being related to Gibby?"

"I'm not supposed to know, but one of the other nurses at the hospital saw him in the jewelry store looking at rings when she was there with her boyfriend. I think he might be going to propose, he was looking at diamond rings." Mel explained.

"Whatever floats your boat, Sis. I mean, if you're in love with Gibby, you're in love with Gibby. I guess it's kind of like me and the nub, no one can predict who you're going to fall for." Sam told her with a smirk and loaded the cups of eggnog onto a tray.

"Wow, Sam. I can't believe you're being so calm about this. Let's get back in there before they think we're up to no good."

Deep down inside Sam was still a bit nauseated at the whole idea of her sister and Gibby being together. But if she said anything, she would be no better than Freddie's mom used to be, so just kept quiet, besides it was great seeing that her sister was happy.

* * *

After a couple more days spent with their families, Sam and Freddie were packing to fly back to L.A. In the morning. Sam mentioned Mel's situation to Freddie.

"I forgot to tell you what Mel told me the other day. For some strange reason, she has it in her mind that Gibby's going to propose or something."

Freddie simply responded "Really." and kept packing.

"Did you hear what I said, Fredlumps? My sister thinks the potato man is going to ask her to marry him."

"Yeah, I heard you." He replied, not making eye contact.

"Alright, doofus, what do you know?" Sam grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look at her.

Freddie left out a sigh, there was no use keeping up the appearance of his ignorance, she could see right through it. "Um, about a month ago Gibby called me and asked me what your ring size was. Since he obviously wasn't going to be buying you a ring, I assume he was getting one for Mel."

"And you didn't think I'd like to know about this?" She said with a murderous look in her eye. "You know how disgusting I find this whole situation. I mean, he's seen her naked for God's sake. Her and I are identical twins. _Identical,_ Freddie. Do you know what that means? It's like he's seen me naked, too. Do you have any idea how creepy that makes me feel when I'm around him?"

"I'm sure he isn't even thinking of you naked, Sam. After all, when I see Mel, I don't picture her without clothes on, just because I've seen you naked."

"Well, you'd better not! But why didn't you say anything about the ring size thing?" She asked with a pout, she knew he was right.

"First of all, Sam, I swore I wouldn't say anything, alright. Gibby's my best friend and I couldn't betray his trust. And you were so busy with work, I wouldn't have said anything anyway, because you didn't need the distraction."

"Oh, you'll pay for this. Maybe not right away, but someday you'll pay. And big time. You should know by now it's not good to keep secrets from Momma."

Freddie gulped, he knew his time was coming. Sam was beyond mere physical violence with him, she preferred to get her revenge in far more creative ways and it was literally scary how creative she could be.

Sam and Freddie returned home in time for new years after saying goodbye to all their friends and relatives. Sam knew the restaurant would be swamped for new year's eve and she wanted to be sure to be available for the holiday. It was a long first shift back after their trip, but she made it home in time to ring in the new year with her husband and friends. Cat, Carly, Carly's boyfriend Jeff, Dice and Goomer had all come over and they were sitting around laughing and having a good time when she came home.

"I hope you guys don't expect me to make any food, I'm beat." She said taking a seat on the arm of Freddie's chair and kissing him before she slouched over against him.

"Nah, we ordered a couple of pizzas and a bunch of hot wings." Cat said. They should be here . . . Ding Dong, right about now." She mimicked the doorbell as she always did.

"I'll get it." Freddie stood up and headed for the door, his wallet in hand.

After the group celebrated the new year with their pizza, hot wings and sparkling cider, and the guests had all left, Sam and Freddie were getting ready for bed when Sam's phone beeped that she had a text.

"What's going on now?" Freddie asked from under the covers as Sam read the message. "It's awfully late for anyone to be sending messages."

"It's from Mel. She says Gibby proposed at the stroke of midnight." Sam told him.

"Did she say yes?" Freddie asked.

"Ugh! What do you think?" She said with a cringe. I can't believe I'm going to be related to a potato. Stop the world, I think I want off."

"Aw, come on. They love each other." Freddie said while Sam climbed under the covers and turned off the light.

"Yeah, I guess. I just don't want to think abut what they're doing right about now." She said while snuggling up to Freddie.

"Speaking of which . . ." Freddie said with a smirk and began to stroke her back.

Sam simply placed a small kiss on his lips. "Remember how I said you'd pay for not telling me about him asking my ring size?"

Freddie knew where this was going. "Yeah."

"Well, mister, you're paying! Good night." With that she flipped over onto her side facing away from him.

'Not the way I thought I'd be starting the year.' he thought to himself. "Good night." He replied to an already snoring Sam.

* * *

Sam was soon completely back into the swing of things at work. She had signed the partnership agreement and was now officially a ten percent owner of Ramone's. Freddie was approaching mid-terms at school and was getting busier by the week with his tech repair business. It seemed there was always a stack of laptops or other computer equipment sitting on their dining room table awaiting his expertise. Sam didn't appreciate the clutter, especially at mealtime, but Freddie was making several hundred dollars a week doing something he liked and was really good at, so she tried to not say too much about it.

Freddie was never bored, not by a long shot. He would get up in the morning, work on a system or two, head to his classes, come home, do his homework and finish up the day working on more computers or dealing with his customers. The housework sometimes fell behind, but somehow they managed. Freddie didn't know, but Sam had even paid Cat to help with the housework a few times.

In February, the couple were making plans to go to Seattle for Spencer and Sonja's Valentine's Day wedding. Even though she resisted at first, saying she didn't want to wear some frilly, tacky bridesmaid's outfit, Carly and Spencer talked Sam into being a bridesmaid. Spencer was like a cross between a male role model and a goofy big brother to her and it meant the world to him for her to be part of his wedding.

The day before they were to fly out for the wedding, Sam had accidentally left her phone on the kitchen counter when she went into work. Freddie came home and saw it sitting there, he had some work that he had to get done before a customer arrived to pick up his laptop, but he figured he would take the phone over to her as soon as the man left.

The phone rang a couple of times while he was busy and Freddie only glanced at the screen to see if it was something important. One call was from Cat, one was from Pam, and then Carly sent a text. It rang again and Freddie saw an Illinois area code. 'Who does Sam know from that part of the country?' he thought to himself. After the third ring from the same number in less than an hour, Freddie figured it was probably a wrong number, so he picked it up just to tell the person they were dialing wrong and to avoid having the ringing phone distracting him yet again.

"Hello. Um, I think you may have a wrong number." He said to the person from the mid-west.

"I-is this Mr. uh, Benson?" The caller asked, he sounded like an older man with a very raspy voice, likely from years of being a heavy smoker.

"Who is calling, please?" Freddie asked.

"Well, sir, you don't know me and I was actually hoping to, um, to speak to Samantha." The man said, sounding a bit nervous.

"Who is calling?" Freddie asked again. He was getting a bit annoyed. Not only was this person interrupting his work, but he was being elusive with his answer.

**Who's calling Sam? If you can guess who, how do think she'll react?**


	14. Chapter 14

**OK, So I guess it wasn't too much of a surprise who was calling Sam. Congrats to those who figured it out and thanks for the reviews.**

Chapter 14

"Um, this is R-Ralph, Ralph Puckett."

Freddie was dead silent.

"I was hoping to talk to Samantha, i-is she available?" The man nervously asked.

"She's at work right now." Freddie said sternly. He remembered how Pam had told him Ralph called her before he and Sam's wedding and how it knocked Pam off the wagon. If for no other reason, this instantly made Freddie's hackles go up. Add the fact that he deserted his family when his twin daughters were only five, this was not a man Freddie cared to get to know, or be overly friendly with.

"Well, um, would I be able to possibly leave her a message, please?" Ralph asked quietly.

"Sure, Mr. Puckett." No matter what he thought of the man, Freddie was still raised to respect his elders. "I'll take a message, but I can't guarantee Sam will return your call."

"Ju-just give her my phone number, please, its 312-555-6156." Ralph said. "And please just call me Ralph, after all you are married to my daughter."

"Alright, Ralph. I wrote down the number and I'll give it to Sam. But like I said, I can't guarantee she'll return your call." Freddie said.

"I understand." Ralph told him. "I know I wasn't much of a father, but I just would like to hear her voice. I talked to Melanie, she gave me Samantha's number, but if she doesn't want to talk to me, I'll respect that."

"I'll tell her that, Mr. Pu, er Ralph. By the way, I'm Freddie, but I guess you already know that."

"Yeah, I follow Sam on splashface, I have ever since she started her babysitting business, and Melanie, too. When I saw on there she was engaged, I called her at work. I knew better than to call the girls' mom, she made that pretty clear the last time we talked."

"I'm glad you didn't call Pam, either." Freddie told him. "The last time you called her, she was pretty messed up for a while and she's just now getting her life back on track."

"What do you mean?" Ralph asked.

"Well, she fell off the wagon for a few months, and it was bad, really bad. She was bad when we were growing up, but this was much worse. Then after our wedding, she started to get her life turned around, she has a good job and she's in a good place now and I'd hate to see her have a backslide." Freddie explained.

"Oh, God. So that's what Melanie meant. I feel terrible for that, I never meant to cause problems, I just called Pam to ask about you, you know, to make sure you were going to treat Samantha well."

"Ralph, uh, I have to go. And I've probably said too much already. I'll give Sam your message." Freddie's customer was due any minute.

"Thank you, Freddie. Goodbye." Ralph said with a sigh.

'He doesn't seem so bad after all.' Freddie thought to himself. 'Maybe there are two sides to this story.'

Freddie took Sam's phone down to the restaurant as soon as his customer left and he arrived just in time for her break. The two found an open table and shared a quick meal. Freddie was going to give Sam the message from her dad, he even had the note in his pocket, but then he thought better of the idea. After all, he wouldn't want to get her all upset when she was at work and heaven only knows what her reaction would be.

"Are you getting things packed for our trip?" She asked him, between bites.

"No, I had to finish up a ram upgrade and install a new network card on a laptop so the guy could pick it up. But I'm going to get started as soon as I get home."

"Spare me the tech jargon, just make sure you save some room in your bag for my makeup case. If I know Carly, she'll expect me to be all painted up for the wedding and I really don't like the idea of using someone else's makeup."

"Will do, my dear." He said.

"I'd better get back to the kitchen, then. I'll see you at home." Sam kissed his lips lightly and headed back to finish her shift.

Freddie returned home and began packing. By the time Sam got home after the restaurant closed, all she needed to do was pack her own clothes and decide what she was wearing for the flight the next day.

"Um, Sam, I almost forgot I took a message for you a while ago." Freddie walked in the bedroom and told her as she packed.

"Let me guess, Carly. She's probably hitting the panic button big time. She's been in Seattle all week. I'll bet she's going nuts making sure everything's all set for Saturday. Remember how stressed she was at our wedding?" Sam said as Freddie handed her the note with Ralph's phone number on it. "What's this?"

"I-It's your dad's phone number." Freddie said quietly.

"I don't have a dad. The man who fathered me and Mel ran out on Mom when we were in kindergarten." Sam said flatly with venom in her tone. "How the chiz did he even find me?"

"Well, he called and said he talked to Melanie. She gave him your number. He also said he follows your splashface page." Freddie told her.

"That figures, Mel would talk to him. I just can't believe she gave him my phone number. I'm gonna call that girl and give her a piece of my mind." Sam said, grabbing her phone.

"Now, wait a second, Sam." Freddie said.

"What for? That man is a total stubrag. I don't want him calling me or even knowing that I'm alive." Sam snapped back at her husband.

"Sam, I know what he did was terrible, leaving the way he did, but there are two sides to every story. Maybe he didn't run away, maybe there was more to it than meets the eye." Freddie knew this to be fact, Pam had told him so, but he didn't want to betray his mother in law's trust and tell Sam outright.

"No, I'm pretty sure he just ran off. We woke up one morning and he was gone. Mom told us he left, period."

"OK, Sam, just don't take it out on Mel." Freddie took the phone from her hands and put his arms around her. "And please just think about it. I told him I couldn't guarantee you'd return his call, but just consider it. For me. You know, I'd do just about anything for the chance to talk to my dad again."

"Freddie, your dad died, it's no one's fault that you grew up without him. Mine was a scumbag who ran out on his wife and two kids, he could have been around for us, he could have watched us grow up, taught us to drive, been there for graduation and my wedding, but he chose to run off like a jerk." Sam was done with being mad, now she was on the verge of tears.

"Come on, baby. Let's go watch some TV and get our minds off all this." Freddie suggested.

"I'm almost done packing and then I want to grab a shower before I settle down." Sam said, putting more clothes into her bag.

"Maybe I should join you." Freddie said suggestively, rubbing her shoulders.

"That would definitely get my mind off my problems." She said, turning around to kiss him as he began to run his hands under her shirt and up her back.

* * *

The next day, Sam and Freddie were back in Seattle. After getting settled in at Marissa's apartment and checking in with pseudo-wedding-planner Carly, they made their way over to Pam and Melanie's for a visit before it was time for the rehearsal dinner.

"Hey you two." Pam greeted, opening the door.

"Hi, Mom." They both replied.

"How have you been?" Freddie asked. "New carpet, I see."

"Yeah, it smelled too much like cigarettes and cat pee, so we decided to replace it and paint the walls."

"It definitely smells fresh in here, Mom." Sam told her. "I don't smell smoke, did you totally quit smoking?"

"Almost, Sammy. I'm down to two a day. One in the morning with my coffee and one after work. But I don't smoke in the house anymore. I go out to the patio." Pam explained.

"Doesn't that get a bit cold in the morning?" Freddie asked. "It's February."

"That's the trick, sport. I make it as uncomfortable as possible for myself so I can smoke less."

"Makes sense." Sam said. "Hey, is Mel home, I need to ask her something."

"Yeah, she's up in her room. Making herself beautiful for that man of hers. I guess they're going to the wedding rehearsal together tonight." Pam said.

"Great." Sam said and headed up the stairs. "I'll be right back."

**You've probably guessed that Mel's going to get an ear full. Do you think Sam will ever make peace with her dad?**


	15. Chapter 15

**Now, Sam will confront Melanie about their dad and try to come to terms with what she should do.**

"What was all that about?" Pam asked Freddie.

"She's a bit bent out of shape at Mel right now." Freddie said. He didn't know whether he should say anything about Ralph or not. Pam did have family to support her now, so he thought he'd better come clean. "Ralph called her yesterday."

"Oh, God. I was afraid of that. Melly said he called her at work last week. He saw on splashface that she was engaged and tracked her down at work to ask her about Bibby."

"Gibby." Freddie corrected.

"Huh." Pam asked.

"Her boyfriend's name is Gibby." Freddie told her.

"Oh, yeah, whatever." Pam said. "Mel said she gave him Sam's number. I'll bet she gave him an earful. Melly's too mealy mouthed to tell him off, but Sammy's another story."

"She didn't actually talk to him. She had left her phone at home when she went to work and I talked to him and took a message." Freddie said. "But how are you doing with all this?"

"Eh, I don't really care either way. The girls can talk to whoever they want, but I'm not going to let his memory drag me down, I've got my own life to live." Pam said with a shrug.

"That's the spirit." Freddie told her.

Meanwhile, upstairs Sam burst into Mel's room. "Oh, hey Sis." Melanie said.

"Don't hey sis me. You gave that d-bag my phone number." Sam huffed.

"Aw, Sam. I knew you'd be wazzed off about this."

"Then why'd you do it?" Sam asked.

"Don't you think it's about time we get to know our dad?" Mel said as she stood up from her makeup table.

"We don't have a dad, Mel. Just because we share half his genes doesn't make him our dad. Dads take their kids to the park and are there when their daughters go on their first date and attend their weddings. Since when did Ralph Puckett ever do any of that chiz?"

"There are two sides to every story, Sam. We've heard mom's, we've been hearing it for years. "Maybe you don't care, but I for one would like to hear his." For one of the first times in her life, Mel actually stood up to Sam.

Sam simply glared back at her.

The twins spoke no more of Ralph Puckett and concentrated on their friends' wedding.

Sam refused to believe there would be any good side to speaking to her dad. It took several weeks of pushing from her sister and husband to even get her to talk any more about it. The couple had returned from Seattle and got back to their normal lives. Freddie completely dropped the subject, he knew pushing Sam would only make her angry. Melanie, on the other hand, didn't have to live with her. She continued to send Sam texts reminding her about their dad and asking if she had called him yet. Sam was caught between giving in and being downright nasty with her sister.

"Hey, princess!" Freddie greeted as Sam came into their apartment. As usual he was sitting at the table with a computer torn apart in front of him, pieces everywhere, clearly engrossed in his work.

"Hey, nub." She responded with a kiss. "Mel sent me another text asking if I'd talked to Dad yet."

"Mmm-hmm." He responded.

"I'm about ready to tell her to stick it, I mean it's bad enough that every time she calls it's the first thing she asks, now she's harassing me with texts, too!"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Did you hear me, I said I'm going to smash all your Galaxy Wars stuff." Sam knew he wasn't paying any attention to her rant.

"Mmm-hmm."

Sam knew he was concentrating on his work, but she wouldn't tolerate being ignored. She slowly unbuttoned her shirt and began to peel it off. She knew if there was one thing he couldn't ignore, it was her body. "FREDDIE! Check this out." She shouted practically pushing her chest into his face.

"Sam! What are doing?" He asked, reaching toward her exposed flesh.

"Good, now that I've got your attention." Sam started to put her shirt back on.

"Awwww" Freddie pouted at her redressing. "What do you need my attention for?"

"I was telling you how my sister's being a pain in the butt about me calling my dad."

"You did leave her under the impression you'd think about it." He told her.

"I'm still thinking." She replied quickly.

"Fair enough. But you've been thinking about this for almost a month."

"It's not an easy decision, Fredlumps." She said

"I understand, you feel he abandoned you and that Mel made up to him way too fast, but no one's asking you to forgive him, Sam. Do you really think it would be so bad to just talk to him." Freddie suggested.

"I guess it wouldn't kill me." She replied. "I'm just afraid."

"Of what." He asked.

This was getting way too touchy-feely for Sam, she wasn't one to show her fears or feelings.

"That if I hear his side of the story, I won't hate him anymore." She said quietly, like it was something to be ashamed of.

"Sam, that's the most illogical thing I've heard in a while." He said as she glared daggers at him. "But it's also the most honest thing you've said about this whole deal."

"It's true, Freddie. For all these years, my mom has always went on and on about what a jerk he was and how he up and left. I'm just afraid if I learn something else, maybe he won't seem like so much of an ogre and then I'll have to feel bad for hating him like I always have."

"I've been telling you what I think about this, why don't you talk to some of your friends. You know, see what they have to say about it. I know you've kept this from Carly, but maybe you'd feel better if you two talked about it."

"I guess that's a good idea, can you keep out of trouble if I run over to her and Cat's?" Sam asked.

"Me?" He asked. "I'm not the one who gets in trouble, but it is soon time for dinner."

"Eh, you won't starve to death, I'll pick up a bucket of chicken on the way home." Sam replied before heading out the door. "Maybe if you're lucky, I'll even save a piece for you."

Sam barged into Cat and Carly's shared apartment as usual. "Hey Cat, hey Carls."

"Oh, hey Sam." They both responded.

"Can I talk to you guys about something?" Sam asked her two friends.

"Is it about your love life?" Cat asked.

"Cat!" Carly shrieked. "Quit talking like that."

"Gheesh, Carls, quit being a prude." Sam said "And no, it's not about my love life, it's about my dad."

"I didn't think you had a dad." Cat innocently stated.

"Of course she has a dad, he ran off when you were like, what, seven?" Carly asked as Sam took a seat on the couch.

"Mel and I were five, actually." Sam told them. "He left when we still lived in Spokane."

"What about him?" Carly asked.

"He called me about a month ago." Sam said quietly.

"What did you guys talk about?" Carly said, Cat just remained quiet, pondering why she never heard about Sam's dad before.

"I didn't actually talk to him." She said. "I forgot my phone and went to work and the nub talked to him. The worst part is, he talked to Melanie, too. Now every other day I have to hear 'did you call our dad', 'you should talk to him', blah, blah, blah."

"Well, didn't you call him back?" Cat asked innocently.

"No! I didn't call him back, and I'm not sure if I even want to." Sam snapped at her young friend.

"Why not, Sam. You haven't seen him or talked to him since you were five." Carly suggested.

"It's not that simple, Carls. He ran out on us, I don't think he deserves to have me call him back." Sam said, with a sigh. "Or maybe he does, maybe I should at least hear him out, I'm just so confused."

"What did he say to Melanie?" Cat asked.

"He asked her about her career, and about Gibby. I guess he saw that she was engaged on splashface or something."

"Well obviously he wants to talk to you or he wouldn't have called. I'm guessing Mel gave him your number." Carly said.

"Yeah, and she won't say what all he told her. I guess he asked her not to, but I think he tried to explain why he ran off on us." Sam told them.

"Maybe you should just see what he has to say." Cat suggested. "After all, if you don't like what he tells you, you can just go back to ignoring his existence."

"If nothing else, hear his explanation." Carly said. "At least it'll give you some closure."

The three talked for another half hour before Sam decided it was time to head for home and get some dinner.

"Thanks, guys. I'll see you later." She said, standing up and grabbing her jacket.

"Good luck, Sam." Carly said with a smile.

Sam grabbed a bucket of chicken on the way home. While she and Freddie ate, she didn't mention the subject of her dad and neither did he. They were too busy making plans for their long weekend together. It was the first time in months that she had Friday and Saturday night both off and the two of them wanted to make it a special weekend for just the two of them since another chance may not come around soon.

**Next time: Will Sam call her dad or will she just blow the whole thing off.**


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning, Freddie was at school and Sam had the morning off. She busied herself around the apartment, she even did some cleaning, just for something to do. Finally, after a couple of hours of housework and hunting excuses not to, she sat down and pulled out her phone.

"Hello." Ralph answered.

"Hello, dad." Sam said quietly.

"Melanie?" Ralph said.

"Um, no this is Sam." She told him.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Sam. You sound just like your sister, but then, why wouldn't you."

"Uh, yeah, we both get that a lot." She said. "So I hear you called looking for me."

"Y-Yeah, I got to talk to your husband. Boy, that sounds weird to say." He laughed.

"Yeah, it still sounds funny to me too. Freddie and I've been together for years, but calling him my husband instead of my boyfriend, just makes us sound so, I don't know, old."

"How do you think I feel, I have two daughters one that's married and one about to be."

"So, uh, Freddie told me you called." Sam said, hoping he would tell her why.

"Well, I, uh, I guess you know I talked to your sister and I . . . well, I sort of wanted to talk to you." He began. "I actually tried to get in touch with you before your wedding, but your mother told me not to bother."

"You know how Mom is." She said.

"I actually knew you had moved to L.A. and that you did babysitting with your friend, Cat." He explained. "I just stumbled across it on the internet one day and I've followed your splashface page ever since. That's when I learned about iCarly and I know this sounds weird, but I've seen everything on that site. All the old episodes and everything."

"That was years ago. We stopped doing the show when Carly moved to Italy." Sam told him.

"I know, but I'm so glad I got to see those shows. It was the first I had seen you since you were five and getting to see you grow up right there on the screen was just amazing." Ralph told her. "When I saw you posted that you were getting married, I wanted to see what the fellow was like. All your mother would say was that he was one of the people you did the web show with. I saw how you and Freddie had grown close on the show, so it was pretty obvious to me you had a great guy."

"Yeah, he's a nub, but he's my nub and I love him." Sam said.

"I know, Melanie told me how much you guys love each other. I'm really glad for you, Sam. I didn't talk to him much, but from what he did say and from what I saw about him on the show, he seems like a really good kid."

"Yeah, he's a hard worker, too. He's working on his masters right now, plus he does all kinds of tech stuff here at home. He fixes computers, sets up web sites, edits videos, you should see our dining room table. I mean, I don't even know what most of this junk is, but he makes sense of it."

"And I hear you're busy, too, with the restaurant and all." Ralph questioned.

"Yeah, I guess Mel told you about all that." Sam said.

"Well she told me you were a junior partner. I'm really proud of you, kiddo."

"What?" She questioned.

"I said I'm proud of you, Sam." Ralph said matter of factly.

"Uh, thanks." She said. "Listen, Dad. I really should get going. I have to go into work this evening and Freddie will be home soon, we don't get to spend much time together with his schedule and mine."

"I understand, Sam." Ralph said. "Would it be alright if I called you back some time. There's some stuff I'd like to talk to you about."

"Sure." She said. "I'd like that."

When Freddie returned home, Sam had his dinner almost ready and was getting ready to leave for her shift at the restaurant. Before she headed out the door, she told him about her phone call.

"I'm happy for you, sweetie." He said "You broke the ice and I guess it must not have been too bad."

"Not really. He's a little more humble than I thought he'd be." She explained before she kissed him goodbye and left for work.

About the time she pulled into the parking lot, Sam's phone rang. "I figured this was coming. It's Melanie." The blonde said to herself.

"Hi sis, how's your day going?" Sam asked as she answered the phone.

"Pretty well, I actually just talked to Dad. I understand he had a surprise phone call a little while ago."

"Yeah, I thought it over and decided to just call him to say hello." Sam explained.

"That was really good of you, Sam. I think you made his day." Mel said.

"I'm glad. Hey, Mel, I'm going to have to go, I just got to work and I need to start getting ready for the dinner rush."

"It's OK, Sam. I just wanted to call and tell you I think it was really great that you called him."

As soon as Melanie hung up with her sister, she was on the phone to Freddie.

"Hi, Mel." He answered.

"I guess you heard Sam talked to dad." Mel asked.

"Yep, she told me before she left for work." He said. "I'm really glad she got it over with."

"Me too. Do you think she'll talk to him again?"

"I suppose. But I'm not saying anything more to her about it. You know how Sam is if she gets pushed." Freddie remarked.

"All too well." Mel laughed. "I just hope she can keep an open mind about all this."

"Yeah, I know, Mel." Freddie told her.

"You know, I think he'd like to see us both the way he's been talking." Mel told Freddie

"Oh." He simply said. "Don't you think it may be a bit soon for that."

"I was kind of worried about that, too. I mean it took her this long to even call him, I can't imagine Sam being comfortable with a visit from him just yet." Melanie worried.

"In time, she might be OK with it, but I think for now he's better just stick with a phone call every now and then." Freddie remarked.

"I'd better go. I just wanted to check in and make sure she was really OK with all this." Mel said.

"Alright, talk to you later." Freddie said and hung up.

A couple of weeks later, Ralph called Sam just like he asked if he could. She had just came home from a class and had a little while to herself before Freddie came home from a study session.

"Hello, Sam." Ralph said to his daughter.

"Oh, Hi, Dad. How have you been." She responded, not knowing what else to say.

"Not too bad, how about you and Freddie."

"We're doing pretty good. Work's good. Our classes are going well. I think he's finally starting to get caught up with his side work, at least it looks like the pile of dead computers in our dining room is getting smaller. It's a good thing, too since he'll have finals and stuff coming up soon."

"Sounds like that guy's a workaholic." Ralph chuckled. "Um, not that it's a bad thing, I just hope you two take some time for yourselves once in a while."

"Yeah we do." She responded. "We try to make sure and take advantage of it when I get a weekend off. And we still try to keep Sundays just for us, but I know he's either working or studying if I have to go in for some reason."

The two talked for nearly an hour about all kinds of things before Sam had to get ready to start dinner.

"Hey, Dad. I guess I'd better soon get dinner started, Freddie will be home before too long." She told him.

"Alright, Sam. It was really good talking to you. Would you maybe want to call me back sometime when you have a few minutes?" Ralph asked.

"Sure, Dad. Maybe next weekend I'll try to call, I'm supposed to have a day off."

"Won't you want to spend your free time with your husband?" He asked.

"Yeah, but he always goes to the gym on Saturday mornings, maybe I'll try to call you then." She said.

"That sounds good, Sam. Just make sure to take time for your marriage." He advised.

"Sure thing, Dad. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Sam."

**I know being forgiving isn't exactly in Sam's nature, but remember she's a little older and a little wiser.**


	17. Chapter 17

**OK, a bit of a fast forward from the last chapter.**

A couple of weeks later, Sam woke up feeling kind of off, she had the chills, a slight headache and felt all congested. 'Great, this is all I need. I have to work the entire weekend and I feel like crap.' She thought to herself as she made her way to the kitchen to try to fix something to make herself feel better.

Freddie came through the door as she was pouring herself a cup of coffee and greeted her with a kiss. He had been at the gym for his Saturday morning workout.

"Don't get too close, Fredbag, I think I'm coming down with something." She told him.

Freddie took a closer look and immediately knew she was sick. Her congested sound and pale look solidified his thoughts.

"Go back to bed and stay warm. I'll fix you a hot cup of herbal tea and warm up the humidifier." He said with concern.

"Ugh, I can't go to bed. I have to go into work in less than two hours." She said between coughs.

"Sam, you can't go to work in a kitchen when you're sick, you know that."

"Freddie, I was off last weekend, plus there is no one to cover for me." Again with the coughs.

"Hun, it's obvious you're sick as a dog. Now do you want to call Phil and tell him you're too sick to come in or would you rather I did?" He asked. "The only place you'll be going is to the urgent care clinic for some medicine."

"Oh, no! I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. NO doctors or clinics, you know how I feel about those germ factories." Sam argued.

"Sam, you need to decide, either treat this yourself and miss work, and probably a lot of it, by the way you sound, or go to the clinic, get some pills and some rest and just maybe you can go back in a few days." Freddie tried to be the voice of reason.

"You know my deal with doctors offices. If you're not sick when you go in, you'll be sick when you come out. And they always find an excuse to stick something somewhere that's either really uncomfortable or just downright painful. Did I ever tell you what that gynecologist stuck in my girl parts the last time I saw her?"

"Yes you did, Sam, but you have a cold and probably a sinus infection, no one is going to go anywhere near your girl parts." Freddie said with a chuckle, trying to be realistic. He wasn't afraid of doctors. Of course, with his mother being a germophobe if he even coughed as a kid he wound up in the E.R., so he was actually pretty used to the whole deal. "I remember you telling me how that old guy at the grocery store was hacking and coughing the other day, you probably picked something up from him when you helped him load his groceries in the rain."

"I knew being helpful to someone would come back to bite me in the butt. Are you sure they won't go poking me with a bunch of needles and chiz?" She asked.

"They may give you an antibiotic shot, but they'll probably just give you some pills and tell you to get some rest." He told her. "Now why don't you get dressed and we'll head over there. I'll call Phil and tell him you're too sick to come in today, alright."

To her surprise, and Freddie's, the nurse at the clinic diagnosed Sam with both the flu and a severe sinus infection. After a couple of hours of waiting, and a quick stop at the pharmacy, the couple was on their way back home with a bag full of various medicines. It took a few days, but Sam was finally feeling well enough to go into work on Wednesday.

"Hey you guys, I'm so sorry that I couldn't come into work last weekend. I promise, I'll make it up to you both." She apologized to Phil and Suzette for letting them stranded over the weekend.

"Everyone gets sick, Sam." Phil said. "We couldn't have someone who was sick in the kitchen anyway."

"That's right, and I don't need to take any germs home to the baby." Suzette explained. "My husband just got over the same thing and it's a small miracle the baby didn't get sick from him. I just feel bad, because you probably picked up his virus off of me."

"Nah, I got it from some old fellow at the store that I helped with his groceries." Sam said. "Besides, you weren't sick."

"I get a flu shot every year." Suzette explained. "Even if I wasn't sick, I could still carry the bug though. Didn't you get a flu shot?"

"Nah, I've never had one. Not a big fan of doctors and their horse needles." Sam told her.

"You don't have to go to the doctors office, I got mine at the pharmacy." Phil said with a chuckle. "And the needle was tiny, I hardly even felt it."

"I guess I maybe should look into it, so I don't have to miss work again." Sam conceded.

* * *

A little over a week later, Sam again woke up feeling sick, but this time it was her stomach. She barely made it to the bathroom before puking like a sorority girl on spring break in Cancun.

Freddie heard her retching from the bedroom and was standing in the doorway when she finally stood up from the 'praying to the porcelain gods' position.

"Ahhh, you scared the chiz out of me. Like watching people hurl, you weirdo?" She snapped before grabbing her toothbrush to get the vile taste of vomit out of her mouth.

"I'm just concerned, that's all." He said. "You just got over the flu and now you're sick again."

"You worry too much, Fredbag. It was probably just something I ate." She said, spitting out the toothpaste. "Besides, I'm feeling better already."

"As long as you're not coming down with something again." He said with concern and a hug.

"Nah, I'll be fine. Why don't I prove to you how much better I'm feeling?" She said, placing her arms around his neck.

"Prove away, my Princess." Freddie said.

The next morning, all was well, but the second day, Sam woke up and made a mad dash to the bathroom, again barely making it before emptying the contents on her stomach.

Fortunately, Freddie was at the gym, because it was Saturday, so there was no one there to make a fuss out of her being sick again. Again it seemed like as soon as she threw up, she felt better, so she carried on with her day. Freddie came home just before she left for work and she never bothered to tell him about it.

Sunday morning, Sam felt fine when she woke up, which was good, her and Freddie were set to accompany Cat to church. The three stopped for breakfast on their way at the all you can eat weekend breakfast buffet, a particular treat for Sam because they had eleven different types of bacon. The blonde was back to her old self, eating like a lumberjack. She polished off three plates of waffles with sausage gravy, at least six eggs and a massive amount of fancy, imported bacon from various countries.

They barely made it to the car, when Sam started feeling funny, but she didn't say anything. Freddie had just pulled out onto the street when she ordered him to stop the car. Once again the poor girl was throwing up, this time hanging out of the car door, like a blonde collie. As soon as she was ready to sit back upright and close the car door, Freddie started to make a fuss.

"That's it, Sam. You need to see the doctor again. This is twice in the last four days you've thrown up." He told her.

"I'll be fine, Frednerd. You worry too much, you're as bad as your mother." Sam replied.

"But Sam, this isn't normal, even you have to admit that." He said.

"I just ate too much." She snapped. "I'm feeling OK now, but all this fussing is making my head hurt."

Freddie simply sighed and kept driving.

"I thought you were over the flu." Cat asked from the back seat. She was also concerned about her friend, but she knew better than to even say the word doctor.

"I'm fine, Kid. Like I said, I just ate too much."

"Sam you threw up on Thursday, too." Freddie chimed in.

"Yeah, and I threw up yesterday while you were at the gym, what's your point?" Sam was getting annoyed at the two berating her for being sick.

"See, now that makes three times." He said.

"Uuuuhhh, Sam! Maybe you're pregnant!" Cat gasped.

**Aaaand, cliffhanger.**


	18. Chapter 18

"Don't be ridiculous, Cat." Freddie said. He had already thought of that, but knew it was all but impossible.

"Not likely, Cat. I take birth control pills." Sam said flatly, even though it did make her mind begin to dwell on the subject. Her period didn't come last week like it should have, but she was always a bit irregular. That was why she had been put on birth control pills long before she even needed to be.

Sam managed to dodge the subject of a doctor's visit for nearly a week, since there was no more throwing up. Again the next Sunday, she was sick as a dog right after sunrise.

"Sam, please. Let's get you in for a checkup." Freddie begged.

"We can't go today, the clinic's not open." She said with a smug look of relief.

"Then, maybe you should call and talk to my mom." He suggested.

"Yeah, that's not happening." She snapped. "If she even thinks I'm sick, she'll hop the first flight down here to not only disinfect the whole apartment, but she'll probably dip you in disinfectant, too."

"Well then, talk to Mel, she's a nurse too. Maybe she can help you figure out why you keep getting sick."

"Ugh! Alright, I'll call her, but not right away. She only gets Sundays off and I don't want to call her this early."

"Fair enough, but you need to talk to someone."

After 9:00, Sam finally gave in to her husband's repeated urging and called her sister.

"Hi, Sam." Mel answered, cheery as ever.

"Hi, Mel. Not interrupting you am I?" Sam asked. "I need to ask you a medical question."

"Nope, Gibby's still in bed, I just got up to make us some breakfast." Mel replied.

"Oh, God. Now I am going to be sick." Sam said.

"SAM!" Mel shouted at her. "I should hang up on you."

"Sorry."

"Anyway, you needed to ask me something medical." Mel asked, now sounding a bit peeved.

"Well, Frednub is harassing me about calling you because I've been throwing up a lot lately." Sam said.

"He knows the way you eat." Mel said with a laugh. "You're probably just hitting the bacon too hard."

"That's what I told him. But I did have the flu a couple of weeks ago and now he's all worried that I'm having some kind of relapse or something."

"It's a bad sign when the flu comes back after it had been gone, but that's really not common in adults, just in small kids." Mel told her.

"This isn't that bad, it doesn't even feel like the flu. Usually I throw up and then I feel better. And it's always first thing in the morning."

"Uh-huh, have you had your period this month?" Mel asked.

"No. But you know I was always irregular just like you, that's why I started taking birth control in the first place."

"Well, have you taken a pregnancy test." Mel simply asked.

"Mel, I'm not pregnant. I just said I'm on the pill!" Sam said with a snap.

"When you had the flu, did they give you antibiotics for a sinus infection or anything?" Mel inquired.

"Yeah, I took them for about a week and a half. The nub even insisted I had to take them all, even after I was feeling better."

"Did the pharmacy tell you that sometimes antibiotics can make birth control pills ineffective?"

"No, I don't think so. Oh geez, I don't know. I was sick as a dog, I think the clinic just called in the prescription and Freddie picked up the pills on the way home." Sam said.

"Then I think you'd better go down to the store, get yourself a home pregnancy test and make sure." Mel said. "It might be nothing, and your missed period could just be a side effect of the medications you were taking or having the flu."

"Mel, I just don't see how it's possible. I was sick while I was taking the medicine, it's not like I was in any shape to . . . , you know." Sam said.

"But what about since, it would take a few weeks for the pills to work again. Sam I know how you two are, you're worse than a pair of rabbits. I think you'd better take a test just to be sure." Mel advised.

"Wouldn't there be other symptoms?" Sam asked her sister.

"Possibly, but it would depend on how far along you are." Mel replied. "Other than the throwing up and the lack of a visit from Aunt Flo, is anything else off?"

"Not really, well, yeah, I've been peeing a lot, but those stupid antibiotics made me so thirsty, I drink like a gallon of water a day."

"Uh-huh. Anything else?" Mel asked. "I know this sounds weird, but how does your chest feel?"

"Um, like it has for the last few years. Well, wait, I tried wearing a push up bra the other day and it was kind of uncomfortable, like it was too tight." Sam remembered. "Is that even possible, can they still grow, I mean, I'm almost 23. I thought they were done growing like 4 or 5 years ago."

"Not always the case, some women continue to grow all their lives, but the most likely thing to make them get bigger on a grown woman is pregnancy." Mel informed her.

"Aw, Mel. I just don't see how it could be possible, but you're the nurse. I'll go get a test and see what it says, but I just know it will be negative."

"Do you really think so or are you just hoping against it?" Mel replied.

"Um, both I guess. Don't get me wrong, I think I'm open to a kid some day, but we're just not ready." Sam said, now starting to sound a bit worried. "Besides, all those tests and needles and Oh, God, the whole idea of squeezing a kid out of my . . . , I don't even want to think about it."

"The only way to be sure is to either have a blood test or a home pregnancy test, and the home tests are usually very accurate. Just do it Sam and put your mind at ease."

"But what if it comes back positive." Sam said, her voice shaking.

"Then at least you'll know."

Sam didn't bother telling Freddie about her conversation with Mel. He was over at Carly's helping her get a new printer she bought online set up when Sam made the phone call. Instead, she simply went down to the drug store and bought a test. It was a good thing she got there when she did, there were only two on the shelf and she considered buying both, but she figured Mel said they were accurate, so why waste they money on multiple tests when she could spend it on fat cakes.

Sam came back home and Freddie was sitting on the couch watching TV, working on something on his laptop. She didn't want to bother having this discussion with him unless she was sure what the outcome of the test was. The test was tucked away safely in her purse and he'd never even see it. She knew if she told him what Mel said, he'd make a big fuss out of it and she just didn't need that stress right now.

"Did you call Melanie yet?" He asked.

"Oh, um, yeah." Sam responded and plopped down on the couch beside him, grabbing the remote from his hand.

"Well?"

"Well what, Fredlump."

"What did she say, did she know what's wrong with you?" Freddie asked.

"Oh, uh, she really wasn't sure, but she said I should just, uh, stay hydrated and take some Pepto to settle my stomach. And if it doesn't go away in a week or so then to go to the doctor." She said, flipping the channels.

"Sam, you've been sick for over a week, it's time to see a doctor." Freddie said with a look of worry on his face.

"Freddie, listen to me, I feel fine. I don't have a fever, I'm not sick, I just blow chunks once in a while. It's probably some kind of acid reflux or something. Maybe I should just watch it with the bacon and fried stuff for a while."

Freddie knew he was talking to a brick wall, so he dropped the subject. Meanwhile, Sam was trying to think of a way to do the test without him realizing what she was up to. 'Maybe if he falls asleep after lunch, I'll have a chance' she said to herself.

Before they were done eating lunch, Carly called with her hair on fire. Her new printer was not working right and there was only one solution, call Freddie. He calmed her down and sighed as he hung up the phone.

"Hey, Babe, I've gotta go back over to Carly's. She can't get her printer working."

"I thought you just set that thing up this morning?" Sam asked, secretly glad he'd be going out for a little while.

"I did, but I guess she either did something to the software or Cat was fooling around with it, trying to do who knows what and now it's offline again." Freddie shrugged. "I'm sorry I wanted us to be able to spend the afternoon together. You know, just us, no interruptions."

"It's alright, don't worry about it. I can use a few minutes to catch a quick nap then I'll be all set for a long evening, just the two of us." Sam told him with a wink.

Freddie was barely out the door when Sam ripped into the pregnancy test and began to read the directions. 'Here goes nothing' she said to herself as she headed into the bathroom to take the test. She set the timer on her phone for five minutes and did her thing. The next five minutes were an eternity to her. She wasn't sure what she's do if the test read positive. Sure having a baby wasn't the worst thing that could happen, but she just didn't feel she was ready, and she was pretty sure Freddie felt the same way.

**Cliffhanger time, sorry it took so long to get this update up, I'm nearly out of pre-written chapters, but don't worry I've been working on a one-shot that's full of fireworks for the fourth of July.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Last time: **Sam wasn't feeling well in the mornings and Melanie reminded her that the antibiotics she was taking for a sinus infection could have made her birth control ineffective. Sam rushed out and bought a pregnancy test without telling Freddie so he wouldn't make a big deal out of it. She found a few minutes to herself to take the test and was doing so when we left off. Now on to Chapter 19

* * *

The timer beeped and Sam could barely bring herself to look at the results. She had never been so nervous in her life. She pinched her eyes tight shut, picked up the test and barely opened one looking at the little circle where either a minus or plus sign was to appear. She soon ripped both eyes wide open, there was neither symbol in the window. How could this be, the test was inconclusive. There was only one thing to do, take another.

Sam grabbed her jacket and headed for the pharmacy to buy another test. She was going down the stairs, when she ran into Freddie.

"Where are you heading off to?" He asked. "I thought you were taking a nap."

"Oh, um, just heading down to the store for some fat cakes."

"You just got a box this morning?"

"Yeah, well since I'm trying to cut back on the bacon, I've gotta eat something." She snapped. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

The blonde dashed down the street and into the pharmacy, preparing to pick up their last home pregnancy test. She headed back the aisle, only to be stopped by a very rotund woman who was blocking the entire width of the aisle examining the yeast infection treatments from the seat of her scooter. Sam pushed past her and stopped in front of the shelf where the tests were kept. Empty! Someone else had bought the last test within the past couple of hours.

"Great", Sam mumbled to herself as she moped out of the store. She trudged back to the parking garage of their building, figuring she'd go down to MallMart and buy one.

"Aw, Man!" She exclaimed as she hopped on her bike. Her helmet was in the apartment. Sam would never even start her motorcycle without wearing her helmet. She had a special name for helmet-less riders, 'organ donors'. If she went back to the apartment, she'd have to try to explain to Freddie where she was going again. Time for plan C.

She quickly walked over to Cat's place, hoping to borrow her car. Cat wasn't home, at least her car wasn't there. Sam was about to turn around and head back for home when Carly appeared out of nowhere.

"Hi, Sam!" The brunette greeted, bubbly as ever.

"Hey Carls." Sam replied trying not to seem too stressed. Carly was the last person she wanted to ask for a ride to MallMart. Sam knew if she told her about any of this the first thing she'd do would be fire off a text to Freddie. Much as she loved her, Carly couldn't keep a secret to save her life and this outcome of this situation had the potential to excite her beyond belief.

"If you're looking for your husband, he went home a half hour ago." Carly said.

"Yeah, I know, I just came from home. I was just, uh, dropping by to say hi to you and Cat. Freddie's seen more of you guys than I have lately"

"Well, Cat's over at MallMart getting some groceries and I was just heading over to Jeff's place. He's leaving for a week long meeting in Sacramento in the morning and we wanted to spend some time alone." Carly replied with a slight blush.

"Wooooo, Carly's gonna get lucky." Sam said with a smirk.

"Stop it! It's bad enough I have to listen to Cat's crude comments all the time without you starting. I'm a grown woman, so what if I want to snuggle with my boyfriend before he leaves for a whole week." Carly was now turning red with her hands on her hips, resembling a fussy chicken.

"Relax, Carls." Sam said. About that time an idea hit her. "You say Cat's at MallMart?"

"Yeah, you just missed her. You're welcome to wait but she probably won't be back for a while, she had a pretty long list." Carly replied, now calming down a little.

"Why don't you drop me off over there? I need a few things too. I'll catch up with her and she can just drive me home."

"OK, Sam. I'm sorry I can't stick around." Carly apologized.

"Don't sweat it, kid." Sam replied. "If I had the choice of canoodling with Frednerd before a week long dry spell or hanging with you or Cat, I'd take the canoodling in a heartbeat."

"Sam, stop saying canoodling. It sounds so dirty."

Sam just rolled her eyes and walked toward Carly's car. Once they were on the road she sent Cat a text telling her to wait by the bakery as Carly drove the blonde to the store.

"Have fun with Jeff." Sam said with an eyebrow wiggle as she hopped out of Carly's white Mini Cooper in front of the store.

"Sam!" Carly exclaimed as she watched her friend turn and head for the entrance door.

Now all Sam had to do was distract Cat while she made her purchase. 'This shouldn't be too hard, that girl has the attention span of a puppy.' Sam told herself.

The two friends made their way through the grocery aisles, Cat placing an entire weeks worth of groceries in her cart while they chatted. The only thing Sam picked up were three boxes of fat cakes.

"Hey, Cat. I've gotta find the bathroom, you mind going on without me." Sam asked as she laid her snacks in Cat's cart.

"You just want me to pay for your fat cakes." Cat exclaimed, acting offended.

"Yeah, you caught me." Sam confessed. "But, seriously, I need a bathroom or I'm gonna wazz my pants. I'll pay you for the fat cakes in the car."

"You know peeing a lot is a sign of pr " Cat was cut off by Sam.

"I don't want to hear that word!" The blonde snipped. She was so nervous at the thought, she couldn't bring herself to even think the word 'pregnant'.

Sam bypassed the bathroom, which she really didn't need, and headed for the pharmacy department. She grabbed a test off the shelf, ran to nearest express line and paid for her purchase before stashing it in her bag. She was sitting on the bench outside the eye exam place when Cat pushed her cart past on the way to the parking lot.

"I see your pants are dry, you must have made it to the little girls' room." Cat remarked with a smirk.

Sam simply stuck out her tongue at the perky, young girl and followed along to the car. After loading the groceries in the trunk of Cat's little car, the pair got in the front seat. Rather than starting the car, Cat held out her hand in Sam's direction, palm up.

"Uh-hem!"

"What's your prob . . ., oh yeah." Sam dug into her pocket and came out with a ten dollar bill and four ones, the change from buying the pregnancy test. "Here, for the fatcakes."

"Thank you." Cat responded. She shoved the money in her purse and started the car.

Cat dropped Sam off in front of her building. The blonde made her way to her apartment, shopping bag full of fatcakes in hand. She was greeted by Freddie, who was starting to get worried since Sam had once again left her phone at home and he couldn't call her.

"Where have you been?" He asked. "I thought you were just going out for a snack."

She simply held up the bag, showing off her three boxes of fat cakes. "Cat was going shopping at MallMart, so I went along with her."

She then flopped onto the couch wondering when she could get the chance to take her newest pregnancy test. The two snuggled, watched TV and ended up falling asleep wrapped up in each other's arms as they usually did.

Sam woke a little after midnight. She figured if she could unwind herself from Freddie, she could possibly get five minutes to take the test without him seeing it. Slowly she made her way from his grasp and quietly snuck back the hall to the bathroom, purse in hand. She set her phone's timer, opened the test and prepared to pee on the little purple stick.

She was just starting to dampen the end of the test when Freddie knocked on the door and scared her. Sam jumped so hard she dropped the test right into the toilet.

"Son of a . . ." Sam grumbled.

"You OK in there sweets?" Freddie inquired.

"Yeah, I'm just peachy." She snapped as she stood up and grimaced at the thought of having to retrieve the plastic test stick from the bowl she had just emptied her bladder into. "Other than you trying to give me a heart attack."

"Well, could I possibly get a quick turn in there as soon as you're done?" He asked. "My bladder is on the verge of splitting."

"In a minute, Fredwad." Sam snapped. "It's times like this when I wish this apartment had two bathrooms."

The next morning, Sam woke feeling a bit queezy again, but she managed to control her desire to hurl until Freddie left for class. As soon as she got herself presentable enough to leave the apartment, she went in search of yet another pregnancy test.

This time she had the day to herself, or at least the morning, Freddie had classes scheduled until just after noon. She headed straight for MallMart and bought not one, but six pregnancy tests, two of each brand they sold. The girl at the checkout line looked a little puzzled at her bulk purchase.

"Want to be _really_ sure, huh?" The young redhead asked her.

"Um, yeah. Something like that." Sam replied as she swiped her credit card through the machine.

"At least you're married." The girl remarked seeing Sam's wedding ring. "I wasn't even with my boyfriend when I found out I was pregnant."

"I'm not preg . . ." Sam was interrupted before she could finish the sentence.

"Been trying long?" The girl asked.

"Uh, not exactly. But we've been married almost a year." Sam was really uncomfortable having this conversation with a complete stranger.

"Thank you for shopping MallMart." The girl said and handed Sam her receipt with a smile. "And good luck."

"I'll need it." Sam mumbled under her breath.

After stopping for a late breakfast, Sam went home, preparing herself for yet another try at the pregnancy test. She had already endured over a dozen texts from her sister asking her if she's done it yet.

Sam entered the apartment, carrying her bag of home pregnancy tests and about jumped out of her skin at the sight of Freddie sitting at the table working on someone's dead laptop. Sam tried to play it cool and keep the bag from plain view, which was pretty hard considering how observant her husband was and the fact that it contained a half dozen pregnancy tests.

"What are you doing home, Fredbag?" She asked. "You said you had class until noon."

"The prof called in sick so the class was cancelled. I thought I'd get home and try to get this thing straightened out the guy's a realtor and he really seems desperate to get it back. He said he'd pay me double if I could get it done today."

'Great, now when am I going to do this stupid test?' Sam thought, trying to hold the bag so he couldn't see it.

"What do you have there?" Freddie asked. "You're acting all sneaky, like you're up to something."

**I promise, we'll get to the test results next time, I just thought it would be funny for her to have such a comedy of errors in trying to take a home pregnancy test.**


	20. Chapter 20

**We're finally going to get to the test results. Sorry to those who thought I've been dragging this out too long, just wanted to prolong the drama. **

**Last time, Sam had nothing but problems trying to get one to work out so she bought a whole handful. She was trying to sneak in past Freddie and not let him know about the home pregnancy test when he asked her what she was up to.**

And now . . . Chapter 20

"What do you mean?" The blonde asked

"The bag, hun. What are you hiding?"

"Oh, um, it's sort of a surprise. You know our anniversary's coming." This was beside the point, not a lie, it _was _coming, but certainly not the truth.

"Our anniversary isn't for two months, Sam." Freddie said with a scowl, knowing full well what she was up to.

"Well, uh, maybe I'm starting early." Sam said as she rushed off to the bedroom to attempt to hide the bag containing the home pregnancy tests. She finally tucked it away in her closet, which was typically such mess that Freddie never went near it.

_Flashback to earlier that morning._

"Ill be home about 12:30. When do you need to go into work?" Freddie asked, as he was finishing a bowl of cereal and a couple of toaster waffles.

"Not till six. Phil asked me to come in to cover for him, he wants to leave early so he can go to a baseball game with some friends." Sam replied from the kitchen.

Freddie kissed her goodbye. "I'd better get going. The prof in my law class is a stickler for punctuality. If you're ten seconds late, he won't let you in the classroom." With that Freddie headed for the parking garage.

About the time he unlocked his car, his phone rang.

"Hello." He answered.

"Freddie? Is Sam alright? She's not answering her phone." Melanie asked, sounding worried.

"She's fine, Mel. I just left the apartment and she was fine three minutes ago." Freddie responded.

"I was just worried about her, I thought maybe she flipped when she got the test results."

"Test results?" Freddie inquired.

"You know, the pregnancy test." Mel said. "I told her it was the only way to be sure what was going on with her throwing up in the mornings.

"Oh, um. I don't think she even got one yet." Freddie responded. "You know how she procrastinates about everything."

Hmm, this would explain her rushing around and going to MallMart with Cat yesterday. The only thing he couldn't figure was why Sam hadn't said anything to him about it.

"Well don't say I said anything, then." Mel appealed to him. "I guess she's just tired of me pushing her about it and that's why she isn't answering my calls."

"Secret's safe with me, Mel." Freddie responded before hanging up.

'So this is what she's been up to. How come she didn't say anything to me about it.' Freddie wondered to himself as he drove to the school. Freddie knew it was only a remote possibility that Sam was pregnant, she had been on birth control since long before they even started dating, but it was still feasible, after all they went at it like rabbits some times. He'd just let this go for a bit and see how long it took Sam to come clean with him.

_End of flashback_

Freddie knew what she was hiding and why she was being so secretive. She had been rubbing off on him in certain ways and just to mess with her, he stayed close to her all day. So close, Sam wouldn't have a chance to take the test without telling him about it. By the time she was getting ready for work, he was still all but glued to her, ensuring that she had no privacy. He even made sure to hold a conversation with her from the doorway while she put on her minimal makeup and styled her hair.

Sam briefly considered taking the tests to work with her and doing them on her break, but Freddie was so clingy all afternoon that she didn't even have a chance to retrieve them from the hiding place under her pile of shoes and boots in her closet.

The next day, they both had classes scheduled, but she knew he would return before her which would lessen the chances of her being able to take the tests in secrecy. When she returned home from work that evening, Freddie was stuck to her again. Every time she thought she could sneak back to the bedroom, he found some excuse to be there too, even if it was just to ask her a pointless question. 'It's almost like he knows I want a few minutes to myself and won't let me have it.' She tought.

At least Melanie had backed off with the constant barrage of texts asking the results of the test. The last time she heard from her twin sister was around lunchtime and that was just an email link to an online video telling about the easiest way to make sure the test isn't messed up is to actually pee into a cup and then dip the stick into it, like the doctors offices do. This might prove a bit easier than trying to dampen multiple tests at once, but she'd still have to get to her tests out of the closet without telling her husband what she was up to unless she wanted him to make a federal case out of it.

'Maybe I should just tell him.' She thought for a second. 'Yeah right, he'll end up making a big deal out of it since he's such a nub.' She told herself. Little did she know Freddie was already in on her secret and was actually doing a pretty good job of keeping his cool.

Freddie wasn't used to being so devious and he was running out of excuses to constantly shadow his wife, but he was still doing his best. Evening came and Freddie was still acting like he couldn't let Sam out of his sight. It was getting late and the blonde finally had a few seconds to pull the bag of tests out of her closet, unwrap three of them and stuff them down her sock while Freddie was getting a shower. Now all she had to do was make her way to the bathroom and pee in one of the paper cups she had stashed under the sink earlier in the day while he was on the phone with Spencer for two minutes.

After his shower, they were sitting in the living room watching TV. Sam waited until Freddie was watching a program he was very interested in before announcing she was bored with it and was going to get ready for bed. She got to the bathroom and managed to get the door shut and locked before he realized she was gone.

Now was her chance, after brushing her teeth and her hair, Sam did her thing. She didn't have any kind of timer with her, but tried to count to herself what she thought was at least five minutes. She looked at the first test, then the second and then the third. All three read negative. Sam felt sad in a way, she definitely wanted to have at least one child with Freddie, but she was also relieved because now was just not the right time in their life. At least she could come clean with her husband without his turning into a worry wart like his mother.

Sam wrapped the tests in toilet paper and stuffed them into the bottom of the trash can before unlocking the door. Much to her surprise, Freddie wasn't standing there like a palace guard. She silently made her way out the hall and saw him still sitting on the couch, glued to the same program. 'Time to come clean' she said to herself.

Rather than plopping down on the couch where she normally did, she seductively sat herself on the arm of Freddie's chair, pressed herself up against him, starting to kiss him behind his right ear. Freddie couldn't resist Sam's advances and quickly muted the TV. After returning her kisses and getting in a few good feels, Freddie said "I'm guessing the results were what you'd hoped for."

Sam stopped, like she was frozen in place. 'How the chiz did he figure it out?'

"Um, yeah. How'd you know I was taking a test?" She asked.

"Don't say anything to her, but Mel called me yesterday morning to ask if you were alright since you weren't answering her calls and she sort of left it slip." Freddie informed her.

"I always told you she was a blabbermouth." Sam snipped and pushed herself away from him.

"Don't be upset with Mel, baby. She meant well, she was just worried about you. I guess she just figured you had told me." Freddie said quietly, holding onto her. "But why didn't you? You didn't have to be all sneaky about it. I would have been there right along with you."

"I knew the test was going to be negative and I didn't want to worry you about it." She confessed. "Turned out it was more worry for me than you. You wouldn't believe how many of those things I've bought since Sunday."

"Try me." Freddie said pulling her in closer to him.

"Well the first one I bought down at the corner drug store turned out inconclusive, guess I didn't get it wet enugh or something. I took that one when you were over at Carly's on Sunday. Then I went back and they were sold out, so that's when I went to MallMart. I was taking the second one when you knocked on the bathroom door and scared the chiz out of me and I dropped it in the toilet. I actually had to fish it out of the toilet I just peed in, and it sunk clear to the bottom, it was so nasty."

Freddie tried his best to hide his smirk, but Sam noticed it anyway and swatted him on the back of the head.

"When I went back the next day I bought like six tests, you should have seen the look on the clerk's face when I paid for them. I just did three of them a bit ago. Good news is, with all these antics, I haven't been sick in the morning."

"I'm just glad we'll be able to wait a while. I mean, sure I want to have kids someday, but just not right away." Freddie said.

"Same here." Sam retorted. "Still, next time I'm taking antibiotics, we'll have to use some backup protection for a while. At least that's what Mel told me."

"I forgot all about that." Freddie confessed. "We learned about that in junior high health class for God's sake. They probably even said something about it when I picked up your medicines, but really I was so concerned with getting you back home and fixed up it just didn't sink in."

"Well, no harm done. This time." Sam told him.

"Guess even though we're not trying to have a baby, there's no reason we can't have some fun practicing." Freddie said as he nuzzled his cheek into her chest.

'Hold that thought, Fredbag." Sam said, hopping off his lap and making a b-line for the bathroom.

A few minutes later she returned to the living room, with far less enthusiasm. Freddie, however, was anxiously waiting to take up where they left off.

"Everything OK, hun?" He asked as she slowly made her way over to him.

"Yeah, I guess. But I think that practice you were talking about will have to wait for about five days."

Freddie raised an eyebrow in question. "Let me guess, after all this fuss and worry, Aunt Flo's showed up for a visit?"

"YeP." Sam simply responded. "Guess we can still cuddle."

**OK, hope I didn't go too far with this one. Sorry of I did. This is the last of my pre-written chapters, but I'm working on some ideas about Sam meeting up with her dad and possibly a surprise from him.**


End file.
